IAU Minor Planet Center

MPEC 2001-W73: EDITORIAL NOTICE

Read MPEC 2001-W72 Read MPEC 2001-X01

M.P.E.C. 2001-W73                                Issued 2001 Nov. 30, 22:01 UT

     The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual
         minor planets and routine data on comets.  They are published
   on behalf of Commission 20 of the International Astronomical Union by the
          Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,
                          Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.

             Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network

                              MPC@CFA.HARVARD.EDU
          URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html  ISSN 1523-6714

                               EDITORIAL NOTICE

                 [reprinted from MPC 43801-43802, 2001 Nov. 30]

     The Editorial Notice a month ago (MPC 43737-43759) prompted some
discussion, notably among the community of mainly amateur astronomers who
subscribe to the "Minor Planet Mailing List".  In stressing the perceived
"right" of discoverers to name the minor planets they find, and whether
or not the 10 million observations currently in the Minor Planet Center's files
represent a mere "database-management" problem, most of the discussion
rather missed the point.  The point is that, while there have been great
strides in artificial intelligence in recent years, and while the MPC's
computers are open 24/7 to receive observations, computers do require
human agents to keep them running, and the MPC's problem is a shortage of
personnel for even 16/7 operation, with most importantly a need for a systems
manager/engineer.  Not only has the greater-than-exponential increase in the
influx of observations in recent years made the need for additional staff
imperative, but without serious financial support--soon--the MPC will have
to introduce cutbacks in its operation, even to the point of a reduction in
staff.

     If cutbacks are to be a consideration, discussion should center on
priorities for the MPC operation as a whole.  Given the potential danger to
the survival of the human race, it seems appropriate to continue to give
highest priority to the processing of information on NEOs, particularly by
means of the very successful NEO Confirmation Page and rapid formal MPEC
announcement of confirmed NEO discoveries (but do further follow-up
observations of NEOs need to be disseminated seven days a week, and if there
is indeed a potential danger, why are the world's governments not clamoring
to provide financial support?).

     From a scientific point of view, it is also reasonable that the MPC should
continue to work with the community interested in TNOs, given the exciting
insight these bodies provide on the origin and evolution of the solar system
(and is it more important to register hundreds of weak two-night discoveries
or to ensure dozens of secure second-opposition recoveries and meaningful orbit
determinations?).  Since early 2000, the MPC has provided similar services
involving the outer satellites of the giant planets, conveniently in time for
the recognition of numerous new satellites of Jupiter and Saturn (and the same
parenthetical question can be asked).  Since 1978, and working closely with
the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams in the interests of efficiency,
the MPC has taken over from the CBAT the routine filing of astrometric
observations and orbital information for comets, leaving the CBAT principally
with the responsibility for announcing new discoveries (but is it necessary
to continue to give special attention to non-NEOs suspected to be comets from
their orbital computations but where observational confirmation is often
both difficult and confusing, and why should there be any urgency in dealing
with comets found near the sun by the SOHO mission that no longer even exist
by the time the measurements become available?).

     Of course, more than 99 percent of the objects handled by the MPC are
main-belt minor planets.  Although the vast majority of the observations
are nowadays extracted from the immense amount of data provided by the
principal NEO search programs, most of the actual observers of these objects
are amateur astronomers who overwhelmingly concentrate on main-belt minor
planets.  Observation for observation, it is much more efficient for the
MPC to process a daily set of organized but unidentified observations
from an NEO program that may number in the tens of thousands than to deal
with scores of e-mails daily from individual observers each containing
at most a dozen or so observations of main-belt objects.  While
there has been very little comment either way on the suggestion last month
that a small charge per e-mail submission and/or a very small charge
per observation should be levied, the fact is that such charges could
support {\it most} of the processing (including sometimes the need for e-mail
interchanges) of the data at the MPC.  While one can indeed argue whether there
is much real scientific value in the reliable identifications and orbit
determinations that nowadays eventually contribute to the enormous rate of new
numberings of minor planets, to utilize for this purpose organized all-sky
observations to a consistent magnitude limit does minimize selection effects.
Rather than produce ever more routine astrometry, does it not now make some
sense for many amateur astronomers instead to carry out careful photometry on a
more limited selection of main-belt objects?  And while there is
understandable appeal to naming a minor planet of which one has been
credited as the discoverer, has not the CCD revolution all but eliminated
the very concept of "discovery" in an automated observing process that is
then supplemented by a computer revolution that automatically yields
identifications and renders the orbital solutions more and more routine the
more complete and extensive the observational set becomes?  While it is
appropriate to acknowledge in the MPCs those individuals who
collectively contribute to this broad observing and computing collaboration,
the MPC has this past month been making a start on removing the assignment of
credit to individuals (as opposed to projects) for the computational work on
specific objects.

     It is also necessary to consider the priority that should be given to
the free services the MPC provides in the WWW.  Part of the reason the Nov. 1
MPCs were a "mini" batch was an urgent need to repair some of these
services around the time of full moon when the lull in observational activity
normally provides an opportunity for the MPCs to be prepared and the
observations documented and filed.  In response to requests from other orbit
computers for the more rapid dissemination of observations of main-belt
objects, the MPC early this year instituted a procedure whereby "mid-month"
batches of MPSs can be issued with observations that have been checked
but not yet documented and filed.  "Mid-month" is a loose term that can
also apply to MPSs issued almost simultaneously with a "mini"
batch of MPCs, such a batch being one that contains none of the
time-consuming documentation (and therefore also does not involve the extensive
filing) of observations and orbits of minor planets.  While the MPC
thought that orbit computers would appreciate this availability of the
observations, it appears that what the orbit computers really want is the
filing of the observations--as evidenced by the note during the past
month in the website of one of these computers to the effect that "the data
from the Minor Planet Center are not available in the required format to be
processed automatically".  We regret the inconvenience.  Likewise, it was not
possible this past month to add to the provision in the WWW of the "one-night
stands", which are the single-night detections of the almost exclusively
main-belt minor planets remaining at any time after all the known
identifications and night-to-night linkages have been removed.  Although the
MPC has received further negative comments about this, it has seen no evidence
that any use has in fact been made of the 12 000 ONS observations made
available by ftp in October.  Nevertheless, while it is anticipated that,
like most of the world's astronomers, each MPC staff member will be on
leave for some part of December, it is hoped that it will be possible
to add to the ONS entries already available shortly.  The extreme attention
accorded nowadays to the dissemination (but a disinclination to support
the work financially) of fully routine astrometric observations of main-belt
minor planets is hard to fathom, given the disdain in which this subject
was held during almost the whole of the twentieth century.  Indeed, in
discussing the announcement of (433) Eros, the first asteroidal NEO, A. C. D.
Crommelin (1898, The Observatory 21, 370) began: "The discovery
of a new minor planet is hailed as a rule with equanimity, not to say
indifference.  The number has grown so large, and they are for the most part
of so little practical importance in astronomy, that but few observers care to
devote themselves to search for them."

     With 2013 new numberings, the ranks of the highest-quality orbit
determinations are today being swollen by almost five times as many minor
planets as were known when Crommelin wrote the above words.  The new total,
(32729), represents a doubling during the past 15 months alone.  Today's
MPO batch also contains some 34 000 orbit determinations of lower quality.
Furthermore, in documenting the data that appeared in the MPS
batches dated Oct. 21, Nov. 3 and Nov. 17, as well as today, the current
MPC batch refers to more than 1.1 million observations.

     The MPC takes some encouragement in the fact that there have been this past
month several new subscribers, particularly to the Computer Service the MPC
shares with the CBAT.  Although this does not make up for the continuing
net reduction in the number of subscribers, even during the past six months,
the MPC hopes that other newcomers will subscribe, particularly to the
Extended Computing Service (where the MPCs, MPSs,
MPOs and filed observations are available)--or to the printed
MPCs, anachronistic though these nowadays may be.  The MPC is also
happy to acknowledge the receipt of donations in November from J. Schiff
(New Zealand) and from M. Trueblood and R. Crawford (Arizona).

Brian G. Marsden             (C) Copyright 2001 MPC           M.P.E.C. 2001-W73

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