The International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) made its first TNO discovery today!! Congratulations go to C.-C.Hsueh, J.-J. Ji, Y.-H. Lin, H.-C. Hsieh & A. Hoyle from the National Dali Senior High School in Taiwan. These students discovered 2014 GE45. Their observation was reported to IASC as NDL0020 from their April 4th Pan-STARRS image sets.
This object is not a Main Belt asteroid. It is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). Preliminary orbit calculations put it at an average distance of 65 AU from the Sun. At that distance an object takes 562 years to go once around its orbit. To give a comparison, Pluto sits at an average distance of 40 AU from the Sun. At 65 AU, 2014 GE45 would be half-again further out into the Solar System than Pluto.
Congratulations to these 5 students!!
[announced by Dr. Patrick Miller, Department of Mathematics & Astronomy, Holland School of Science & Mathematics, Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, TX 79698, iascsearch@hsutx.edu]
IASC (“Isaac”) is a collaboration of Hardin-Simmons University (Abilene, TX), Lawrence Hall of Science (University of California at Berkeley), Astronomical Research Institute (Westfield, IL), Global Hands-On Universe Association (Portugal), Sierra Stars Observatory Network (Markleeville, CA), Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX), The Faulkes Telescope Project (Wales), Yerkes Observatory (Williams Bay, WI), Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY), Las Cumbras Observatory (Santa Barbara, CA), G.V. Schiaparelli Astronomical Observatory (Italy), Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter (Tucson, AZ), and Astrometrica (Austria). Special project collaborations include the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (University of Hawaii), National Astronomical Observatories of China (Beijing), Astronomers Without Borders (United States), Space Generation Advisory Council (Vienna, Austria), Haus der Astronomie (Heidelberg, Germany), IceCube Neutrino Detector (University of Wisconsin, Madison), and Target Asteroids! (University of Arizona, Tucson).
