NEAR-EARTH OBJECT TRACKING. The Plaskett Tracking System
The Plaskett telescope is the largest telescope in the world that is used in a regular program of near-Earth object (NEO) follow-up astrometry, and the telescope is able to detect these objects long after they have faded from the grasp of other observers. Without this work, many of the near-Earth objects would be permanently lost.
The aim of the program is to provide rapid astrometric data for all newly-discovered objects that manifest unusual plane-of-sky motion and could be in close proximity to the Earth-Moon system. In addition, time is allocated for systematic observation of previously-discovered NEO in order to increase their respective observational arc-lengths and therefore to enhance the probability of recovery at subsequent apparitions. This is particularly important for those objects classed as `potentially-hazardous asteroids’ (PHAs) as they possess a non-zero probability of impacting the Earth in the future.