The Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) is a web service listing recently-submitted observations of objects that may be near-Earth objects (NEOs). It is a service of the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

(MPC), which is the official international archive for

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 of minor planets. The NEOCP was established by the MPC on the World Wide Web in March 1996. Astrometric observations of new NEO candidates are submitted by observers either through email or

cURL cURL (pronounced like "curl", UK: , US: ) is a computer software project providing a library (libcurl) and command-line tool (curl) for transferring data using various network protocols. The name stands for "Client URL". History cURL was fi ...

, after which they are placed in the NEOCP for a period of time until they are confirmed to be a new object, confirmed to be an already-known object, or not confirmed with sufficient follow-up observations. If the object is confirmed as a new NEO, it is given a

provisional designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...

and its observations will be immediately published in a '' Minor Planet Electronic Circular'' (MPEC). If the object is a recovery of an already-designated NEO on a new opposition, it will also be immediately published in an MPEC. Otherwise, if the object is confirmed as a minor planet that is not a NEO, it will be published in a Daily Orbit Update MPEC on the following day. Any objects that are not confirmed due to an insufficient observation arc or a false-positive detection will have its observations archived in the MPC's

Isolated Tracklet File Isolation is the near or complete lack of social contact by an individual. Isolation or isolated may also refer to: Sociology and psychology * Isolation (health care), various measures taken to prevent contagious diseases from being spread **I ...

of unconfirmed minor planet candidates. This tool is updated throughout the day to facilitate follow-up observations as quickly as possible before an object is

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

and no longer observable. A number of other services make use of the NEOCP and further process the data to make independent predictions of the likelihood of an object being an NEO and also of the likely risk of Earth impact, some of these are listed below.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , title = Guide to Minor Body Astrometry , url = https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/info/Astrometry.html , publisher = Minor Planet Center , date = 9 November 2018 , accessdate = 14 August 2022 {{cite web , title = Comments and Notes on the NEOCP , url = https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/NEO/NEOCPNotes.html , publisher = Minor Planet Center , accessdate = 14 August 2022 {{cite web , title = Isolated Tracklet File , url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ITF/ReadMe.txt , publisher = Minor Planet Center , date = 22 October 2015 , accessdate = 14 August 2022 {{cite journal , first1 = B. G. , last1 = Marsden , first2 = G. V. , last2 = Williams , title = The NEO confirmation page , journal = Planetary and Space Science , date = February 1998 , volume = 46 , issue = 2 , pages = 299–302 , doi = 10.1016/S0032-0633(96)00153-5 , bibcode = 1998P&SS...46..299M {{cite journal , first1 = Brian G. , last1 = Marsden , title = Comets and asteroids: searches and scares , journal = Advances in Space Research , date = January 2004 , volume = 33 , issue = 9 , pages = 1514–1523 , doi = 10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00455-1 , bibcode = 2004AdSpR..33.1514M {{cite journal , first1 = Peter , last1 = Vereš , first2 = Matthew J. , last2 = Payne , first3 = Matthew J. , last3 = Holman , first4 = Davide , last4 = Farnocchia , first5 = Gareth V. , last5 = Williams , first6 = Sonia , last6 = Keys , first7 = Ian , last7 = Boardman , title = Unconfirmed Near-Earth Objects , url = https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aac37d/pdf , journal = The Astronomical Journal , date = July 2018 , volume = 156 , issue = 1 , pages = 15 , id = 5 , doi-access = free , doi = 10.3847/1538-3881/aac37d , arxiv = 1805.02804 , bibcode = 2018AJ....156....5V {{cite conference , first1 = Robert , last1 = Weryk , first2 = Richard , last2 = Wainscoat , first3 = Peter , last3 = Vereš , title = NEOs in the Isolated Tracklet File , url = https://az659834.vo.msecnd.net/eventsairwesteuprod/production-atpi-public/df7f7357faa94da382d48a7d3f1a222b , conference = 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference , location = Vienna, Austria , date = April 2021 , id = 32 , pages = 10 , bibcode = 2021plde.confE..32W

External links

Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page at MPC

SpaceDYS NEOScan Tool

Interactive graphic showing time of most recent submitted observations for NEOCP objects

Previous NEOCP objects listing disposition/status/outcome upon being removed from the list
Astronomy data and publications

See also

References

External links