[ExI] Asteroid on track for possible (probability of 1:25) Marshit

[Bryan Bishop]

On Thursday 03 January 2008, Eugen Leitl wrote:
> They already do. What I would do is to issue semiprofessional-level
> amateurs Internet-controlled instrument control boxes and/or decent
> CCDs for their instruments, pay for the broadband connection or even
> in some cases pay for the instruments, let them donate time and issue
> bounties for new object spotters.

I'd add in an automated mode, a sort of SETI at Home except search for 
planetary threats at home. Simple, cheap servos could let servers 
specify spots of the sky to check on a regular basis, but there'd have 
to be some amazingly precise positioning/GPS service plus altitude data 
to figure out from what angle on the surface of the planet the 
telescope is looking up at. 

I have yet to understand just how it is that astronomers are able to 
specify so precisely what stars they are observing, since the planet is 
revolving around the local star, and the star is revolving around the 
galaxy and everything is shifting, and I've never seen a positional 
database on the internet before. I would think we would need to 
calculate observation-altitudes, telescopic angle, the precise time and 
position, etc. etc. But instead, apparently the relative position of 
the stars is stable enough to be conveyed as "eh, look left to that big 
bright one each night" ??

- Bryan
________________________________________
Bryan Bishop
http://heybryan.org/