The Bisei Spaceguard Center (BSGC) is an

astronomical observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

located at Bisei-chō, Okayama, Japan. The facility was constructed during 1999–2000, where it since conducts the Bisei Asteroid Tracking Telescope for Rapid Survey or , an astronomical survey that solely tracks

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s and

space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, or space garbage) are defunct human-made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecr ...

. BATTeRS has discovered numerous minor planets and the periodic, Halley-type comet and near-Earth object C/2001 W2 (BATTERS). Space debris, along with

defunct Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is t ...

spaceships,

satellites A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...

as well as other small objects can present a hazard to operating spacecraft. Built by the Japan Space Forum (JSF) with contributions by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, all expenses of the center are covered by the

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

(JAXA). The telescopes which keep track of any space debris are manned by members of the Japan Spaceguard Association. Besides the spaceguard center, the facility also includes the Bisei Astronomical Observatory (BAO). The 1-meter

Cassegrain Cassegrain may refer to * Cassegrain reflector, a design used in telescopes * Cassegrain antenna, a type of parabolic antenna * Cassegrain (crater), on the Moon * a Belgian canned vegetables producer now part of Bonduelle S.A. People : * Guillaume ...

telescope has a field of view of three degrees and there are plans to use a mosaic of ten CCD detectors each one of which will have dimensions of 2096 x 4096 pixels. A 0.5-meter telescope with a field of view of 2 x 2 degrees began operations in February 2000. Once the 1-meter NEO search telescope begins operations, the 0.5-meter telescope will be used to provide follow-up

astrometric Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way. Histor ...

observations. The main-belt asteroid

17286 Bisei Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

, discovered by BATTeRS in July 2000, was named after the town where the Bisei Spaceguard Center and the Bisei Astronomical Observatory are located.

List of discovered minor planets

BATTeRS has discovered more than 400 minor planets during its course. As an anomaly, the survey is also credited with the discovery of at

Kiso Observatory Kiso Observatory ( ja, 木曽観測所: Kiso Kansokujo) is an astronomical observatory located at Mt. Ontake in Japan. The observatory was founded in 1974, originally as a branch observatory of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, with the expres ...

in 1996, or 4 years before the Bisei Spaceguard Center was constructed. Members of the program include Atsuo Asami,

David J. Asher David J. Asher (born 1966, Edinburgh) is a British astronomer, who works at the Armagh Observatory (IAU code 981) in Northern Ireland. He studied mathematics at Cambridge and received his doctorate from Oxford. He is known for the meteor resea ...

and

Syuichi Nakano is a Japanese astronomer. He specializes in the study of comets, in particular calculating their orbits and making predictions about when periodic comets will return for another perihelion approach. It is considerably more difficult to predict th ...

Takeshi Urata was a Japanese astronomer. He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, observing at Nihondaira Observatory. In 1978 he became the first amateur to discover a minor planet (2090 Mizuho) in over fifty years, which he named after his daughter, Mizu ...

was also a former member of BATTerS.

References

External links

Official website

{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System Astronomical surveys Asteroid surveys * Minor-planet discovering observatories