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NELIOTA: ESA's new NEO lunar impact monitoring project with the 1.2m telescope at the National Observatory of Athens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2016

A. Z. Bonanos ,
M. Xilouris ,
P. Boumis ,
I. Bellas-Velidis ,
A. Maroussis ,
A. Dapergolas ,
A. Fytsilis ,
V. Charmandaris ,
K. Tsiganis  and
K. Tsinganos
A. Z. Bonanos
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
M. Xilouris
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
P. Boumis
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
I. Bellas-Velidis
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
A. Maroussis
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
A. Dapergolas
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
A. Fytsilis
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
V. Charmandaris
Affiliation:
IAASARS, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Penteli, Greece, email: bonanos@noa.gr
K. Tsiganis
Affiliation:
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
K. Tsinganos
Affiliation:
University of Athens, Panepistemiopolis, 15784 Zografos, Athens, Greece
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Abstract

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NELIOTA is a new ESA activity launched at the National Observatory of Athens in February 2015 aiming to determine the distribution and frequency of small near-earth objects (NEOs) via lunar monitoring. The project involves upgrading the 1.2m Kryoneri telescope of the National Observatory of Athens, building a two fast-frame camera instrument, and developing a software system, which will control the telescope and the cameras, process the images and automatically detect NEO impacts. NELIOTA will provide a web-based user interface, where the impact events will be reported and made available to the scientific community and the general public. The objective of this 3.5 year activity is to design, develop and implement a highly automated lunar monitoring system, which will conduct an observing campaign for 2 years in search of NEO impact flashes on the Moon. The impact events will be verified, characterised and reported. The 1.2m telescope will be capable of detecting flashes much fainter than current, small-aperture, lunar monitoring telescopes. NELIOTA is therefore expected to characterise the frequency and distribution of NEOs weighing as little as a few grams.

Keywords

Moon
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 10 , Issue S318: Asteroids: New Observations, New Models , August 2015 , pp. 327 - 329
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

References

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