Name: Edward Bowell
Lowell Observatory

University of Washington
Astrolunch


Title: Two Orders of Magnitude More Asteroids, Comets and TNOs within the next Decade? Yes, but Why?


Abstract:
Three wide-field telescope systems should see first light in a few years' time: DCT, LSST, and Pan-STARRS. Each will be able to search large areas of sky to R~24 mag.

In addition to comets and thousands of transneptunian objects (TNOs), we expect the discovery of 10 million asteroids, including 90% of those hazardous to Earth.

In combination with improved astrometric and photometric accuracy, these findings should advance our understanding of small solar system bodies over the next two decades more than over the previous two centuries.




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