scholarly journals Computer Aided Near Earth Object Detection

1994 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
James V. Scotti
Keyword(s):  
Object Detection ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
University Of Arizona ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Automatic Methods ◽  
The University ◽  
Near Earth Asteroids ◽  
Near Future ◽  
First Time ◽  
Near Earth Objects

The Spacewatch program at the University of Arizona has pioneered automatic methods of detecting Near Earth Objects. Our software presently includes three modes of object detection: automatic motion identification; automatic streak identification; and visual streak identification. For automatic motion detection at sidereal drift rates, the 4σ detection threshold is near magnitude V = 20.9 for nearly stellar asteroid images. The automatic streak detection is able to locate streaks whose peak signal is above ~4σ and whose length is longer than about 10 pixels. Some visually detected streaks have had peak signals near ~1σ.Between 1990 September 25 and 1993 June 30, 45 new Near Earth asteroids, two comets and two Centaur's have been discovered with the system. An additional six comets, five Near Earth asteroids, and one Centaur were also “re-discovered”. The system has directly detected for the first time Near Earth Objects in the complete size range from about 5 kilometers to about 5 meters. Each month ~2,000 main belt asteroids are also detected.Future upgrades in both hardware, software, and telescope aperture may allow an order of magnitude increase in the rate of discovery of Near Earth Objects in the next several years. Several of the techniques proposed for the Spaceguard Survey have already been tested by Spacewatch, and others will need to be tested in the near future before such a survey can be implemented.

scholarly journals Infrared Astronomy

1968 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 136-147
Author(s):  
Frank J. Low
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Radiation ◽  
Infrared Astronomy ◽  
Absolute Calibration ◽  
Wavelength Band ◽  
University Of Arizona ◽  
Current Limiting ◽  
Infrared Wavelengths ◽  
Few Data ◽  
The University ◽  
Near Future

The Earth’s atmosphere transmits infrared radiation through a number of windows. Table 1 lists the seven photometric systems in use at the University of Arizona which are chosen to fit the windows between 1·0 and 25 microns. An absolute calibration (Johnson, 1965; Low, 1966) has been worked out for each wavelength band and, for reference, we include an estimate of our current limiting magnitudes using a 60-inch telescope. At about 1000 microns, observations from the ground are again possible and both our group and workers in Russia (Fedoseev 1963) and England (Baldock et al., 1965) have succeeded in making observations of celestial sources. Between 25 and 1000 microns a few data have now been obtained from stratospheric altitudes by observers using jet aircraft (Low and Gillespie, 1968) and helium-filled balloons (Hoffman et al., 1967). We can anticipate that activity of this sort will increase greatly in the near future. At present, however, most of what we know concerning the nature of celestial objects at infrared wavelengths was obtained with ground-based instruments.

scholarly journals DIVISION III / SERVICE MINOR PLANET CENTER

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (T27A) ◽  
pp. 183-186
Author(s):  
Timothy B. Spahr ◽  
Gareth V. Williams ◽  
Brian G. Marsden
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Minor Planet ◽  
Minor Planets ◽  
Division Iii ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
University Of Arizona ◽  
The University ◽  
Near Earth Objects

The activity of the Minor Planet Center continued generally to increase during the two triennia covered by this report, principally because of the continuing success of the surveys for near-earth objects. Chief among these has been the Lincoln (Laboratory) Near-Earth Asteroid Research Project, or LINEAR, which is credited with the discovery of slightly more than half of all the minor planets that have been numbered, although since 2005 the Catalina Sky Survey and Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona and the Siding Spring Survey in New South Wales (all three of which, together with the long-lasting Spacewatch Survey, are operated from the University of Arizona) have come to dominate the field. The total number of observations of minor planets in the MPC's files more than doubled from 14.1 million in mid-2002 to 30.9 million in mid-2005, with almost another doubling, to 55.4 million, in mid-2008.

The Search

Impact! ◽  
1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerrit L. Verschuur
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Potential Danger ◽  
University Of Arizona ◽  
The World ◽  
Eyes Open ◽  
San Juan Capistrano ◽  
The University ◽  
Earth Orbits ◽  
Near Earth Asteroids

The earth orbits the sun in a veritable swarm of asteroids that have the nasty habit of occasionally slamming into the planet. To add to the potential danger, comets sometimes wander into the vicinity of the sun, break up, change course, and hang about posing a threat for up to tens of thousands of years. We don’t really want to be hit by any of these, so what can we do to avoid the blows? Most important, we have to keep our collective, astronomical eyes open and try to spot the dangerous ones before they get here. With almost religious fervor some planetary scientists have been seeking near-earth asteroids in recent years to determine how many may be out there that might yet pose a threat to our planet. These scientists have met on many different occasions in the past five years to discuss search strategies and what to do next. The first major meeting of this type, open to more than those in the inner circle that grew from the discovery of the iridium layer in the K/T clays, was held at San Juan Capistrano in 1991. It was billed as the First International Symposium on Near-Earth Asteroids and brought together interested scientists from all over the world. Eugene Shoemaker was there and he urged caution about describing what a civilization-destroying asteroid is. After all, two out of three will hit water, he said, ignoring the point raised in chapter 12, that a water impact is almost certain to produce a greater catastrophe than a land strike, especially if several fragments should be involved. He estimated a civilization-threatening impact once every few million years. Tom Gehrels of Spacewatch at the University of Arizona did not take well to this caution and pointed out that “Humanity is ill-advised to say the probabilities are so low as to ignore them. I will not take that point of view.” As I listened to the talks and arguments, a sobering thought crossed my mind. Resting upon the efforts of this group of searchers might be the future of humankind. All of them realized that estimating probabilities of that magnitude was nit-picking.

scholarly journals Carbon footprinting of universities worldwide: Part I—objective comparison by standardized metrics

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckard Helmers ◽  
Chia Chien Chang ◽  
Justin Dauwels
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Carbon Footprints ◽  
Geographical Latitude ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Zero Emission ◽  
Carbon Performance ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

Abstract Background Universities, as innovation drivers in science and technology worldwide, should be leading the Great Transformation towards a carbon–neutral society and many have indeed picked up the challenge. However, only a small number of universities worldwide are collecting and publishing their carbon footprints, and some of them have defined zero emission targets. Unfortunately, there is limited consistency between the reported carbon footprints (CFs) because of different analysis methods, different impact measures, and different target definitions by the respective universities. Results Comprehensive CF data of 20 universities from around the globe were collected and analysed. Essential factors contributing to the university CF were identified. For the first time, CF data from universities were not only compared. The CF data were also evaluated, partly corrected, and augmented by missing contributions, to improve the consistency and comparability. The CF performance of each university in the respective year is thus homogenized, and measured by means of two metrics: CO2e emissions per capita and per m2 of constructed area. Both metrics vary by one order of magnitude across the different universities in this study. However, we identified ten universities reaching a per capita carbon footprint of lower than or close to 1.0 Mt (metric tons) CO2e/person and year (normalized by the number of people associated with the university), independent from the university’s size. In addition to the aforementioned two metrics, we suggested a new metric expressing the economic efficiency in terms of the CF per $ expenditures and year. We next aggregated the results for all three impact measures, arriving at an overall carbon performance for the respective universities, which we found to be independent of geographical latitude. Instead the per capita measure correlates with the national per capita CFs, and it reaches on average 23% of the national impacts per capita. The three top performing universities are located in Switzerland, Chile, and Germany. Conclusion The usual reporting of CO2 emissions is categorized into Scopes 1–3 following the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting Standard which makes comparison across universities challenging. In this study, we attempted to standardize the CF metrics, allowing us to objectively compare the CF at several universities. From this study, we observed that, almost 30 years after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (1992), the results are still limited. Only one zero emission university was identified, and hence, the transformation should speed up globally.

scholarly journals Spacewatch preparations for the era of deep all-sky surveys

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S236) ◽  
pp. 329-340
Author(s):  
Robert S. McMillan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Absolute Magnitude ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Rapid Response System ◽  
Sky Surveys ◽  
University Of Arizona ◽  
Impact Risk ◽  
Fast Motion ◽  
The University ◽  
Near Earth Objects

AbstractThe Spacewatch Project at the University of Arizona uses a 0.9-meter and a 1.8-meter telescope to search for new Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and make astrometric followup measurements of known ones. Among the presently operational asteroid astrometry programs, Spacewatch is uniquely suited to support discoveries by the planned deep all-sky surveys. The Spacewatch 1.8-meter telescope is the largest in the world that is used exclusively for observations of asteroids and comets. Since 2003 January 1, Spacewatch has made ~2400 separate-night detections (discoveries plus followup) of NEOs with absolute magnitude H≤ 22, including 117 fresh discoveries of NEOs with H≤22 and ~900 separate-night detections of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). Objects have been recovered at V=23 and at elongations less than 60 degrees from the Sun. Spacewatch followup observations have contributed to the removal of 137 objects from JPL's impact risk website. Examples of notable recoveries by Spacewatch include the extension of orbital arcs from one month to multi-opposition orbits, and a successful targeted search for a large PHA (1990 SM) with 80 degrees of uncertainty. Spacewatch has been making as many observations of PHAs with H≤22 and V>21 as all other followup stations combined. Followup of NEOs while they are not near Earth provides better leverage on orbital elements and will be well suited to follow up some of the discoveries by the larger-scale, deeper sky surveys: both ground- and space-based. Spacewatch is collaborating with the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PS) of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. Each lunation, Spacewatch sends its listings of point sources detected in survey images for PS's moving object detection team to test their software. Spacewatch is also prepared to follow up objects of special interest, fast motion, or less than three nights of observations by PS itself. Spacewatch's current equipment is only a few years old, but there is still room to improve limiting magnitude & time efficiency.

Spectrophotometric reductions with an IBM 1620

1966 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 116-117
Author(s):  
P.-I. Eriksson
Keyword(s):  
Astronomical Data ◽  
Spectrophotometric Data ◽  
Electronic Computers ◽  
The University ◽  
Near Future

Nowadays more and more of the reductions of astronomical data are made with electronic computers. As we in Uppsala have an IBM 1620 at the University, we have taken it to our help with reductions of spectrophotometric data. Here I will briefly explain how we use it now and how we want to use it in the near future.

MANAGEMENT OF THE SUCCESS OF STUDENT’S LEARNING BASED ON THE MARKOV MODEL

2018 ◽  
pp. 4-11
Author(s):  
M. V. Noskov ◽  
M. V. Somova ◽  
I. M. Fedotova
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Markov Process ◽  
Continuous Time ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Automated Information System ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University ◽  
Independent Work ◽  
Near Future

The article proposes a model for forecasting the success of student’s learning. The model is a Markov process with continuous time, such as the process of “death and reproduction”. As the parameters of the process, the intensities of the processes of obtaining and assimilating information are offered, and the intensity of the process of assimilating information takes into account the attitude of the student to the subject being studied. As a result of applying the model, it is possible for each student to determine the probability of a given formation of ownership of the material being studied in the near future. Thus, in the presence of an automated information system of the university, the implementation of the model is an element of the decision support system by all participants in the educational process. The examples given in the article are the results of an experiment conducted at the Institute of Space and Information Technologies of Siberian Federal University under conditions of blended learning, that is, under conditions when classroom work is accompanied by independent work with electronic resources.

Adam Zalužanský’s “De sexu plantarum” (1592): an early pioneering chapter on plant sexuality

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Funk
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
English Translation ◽  
History Of Botany ◽  
Main Work ◽  
Botanical History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

In the history of botany, Adam Zalužanský (d. 1613), a Bohemian physician, apothecary, botanist and professor at the University of Prague, is a little-known personality. Linnaeus's first biographers, for example, only knew Zalužanský from hearsay and suspected he was a native of Poland. This ignorance still pervades botanical history. Zalužanský is mentioned only peripherally or not at all. As late as the nineteenth century, a researcher would be unaware that Zalužanský’s main work Methodi herbariae libri tres actually existed in two editions from two different publishers (1592, Prague; 1604, Frankfurt). This paper introduces the life and work of Zalužanský. Special attention is paid to the chapter “De sexu plantarum” of Zalužanský’s Methodus, in which, more than one hundred years before the well-known De sexu plantarum epistola of R. J. Camerarius, the sexuality of plants is suggested. Additionally, for the first time, an English translation of Zalužanský’s chapter on plant sexuality is provided.

More Christian Apocrypha

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
Tony Burke
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
North American ◽  
English Language ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
Medieval Christianity

Scholars interested in the Christian Apocrypha (CA) typically appeal to CA collections when in need of primary sources. But many of these collections limit themselves to material believed to have been written within the first to fourth centuries CE. As a result a large amount of non-canonical Christian texts important for the study of ancient and medieval Christianity have been neglected. The More Christian Apocrypha Project will address this neglect by providing a collection of new editions (some for the first time) of these texts for English readers. The project is inspired by the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project headed by Richard Bauckham and Jim Davila from the University of Edinburgh. Like the MOTP, the MCAP is envisioned as a supplement to an earlier collection of texts—in this case J. K. Elliott’s The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford 1991), the most recent English-language CA collection (but now almost two decades old). The texts to be included are either absent in Elliott or require significant revision. Many of the texts have scarcely been examined in over a century and are in dire need of new examination. One of the goals of the project is to spotlight the abilities and achievements of English (i.e., British and North American) scholars of the CA, so that English readers have access to material that has achieved some exposure in French, German, and Italian collections.

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