NEO search telescope in China

Abstract

AbstractChinese scientists have contributed many research works to the field of asteroid surveying and related topics. In the early 1960s, Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) began observing asteroids and found over 130 new numbered asteroids during the following decades. The Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program (SCAP) of Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO) started in 1995 and found 575 asteroids in several years.NEOs represent a great threat to the near-Earth environment by closely approaching Earth or even impacting with Earth. After the impact of comet SL9 on Jupiter, Chinese proposed to build a NEO Search Telescope to take part in the joint international NEO survey. It is a 1.0/1.2 m Schmidt telescope with a 4K×4K drift scanning CCD detector. Here we elaborate upon its applications to objects of scientific interest, its parameters, and its observing station.