Why is Finding NEOs Hard?
The objectives of the George E. Brown, Jr. NEO Survey Act (Public Law No. 109-155) are to detect, track, catalog, and characterize the physical characteristics of PHAs equal to or larger than 140 meters in diameter with a perihelion distance of less than 1.3 AU (Astronomical Units) from the Sun, achieving 90 percent completion of the survey within 15 years. The Act was signed into law by President Bush on December 30, 2005. Ground-based optical surveys are the most efficient tool for comprehensive NEO detection, determination of their orbits and subsequent tracking. A survey capable of extending these tasks to PHAs with diameters as small as 140 m, as mandated by Congress, requires a large telescope, a large camera, and a sophisticated data acquisition, processing and dissemination system.
