Determining a Light Curve for Vesta and Ceres
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Determining a Light Curve for Vesta and Ceres

This activity was developed by the Spaceguard Detective Association (SDA) and is adapted and used by permission. In this activity you can compare telescope images of the sky to look for asteroids.

This program makes asteroid detection available to many classrooms and individuals. You do not need access to a telescope, the images are available via CD or internet.. Practice images that you can use to develop your skill at finding asteroids are included. The Japan Spaceguard Association has specifically developed software to explore these images. It is called "Asteroid Catcher B-612" (AstCat ). Currently it is available for free on CD. The manual can be viewed here.

The SDA provides you with the night sky data obtained by the Bisei Spaceguard Center located in the south west of Japan. Anybody who has a PC connected to the Internet can join the project for detecting asteroids.

You do not need to be highly skilled in detection work. All you need is to follow the manual carefully and patiently. Finding asteroids requires you to look at successive images carefully one by one. Good luck, don't forget to keep in touch via our discussion board.

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