EU-ESA Workshop on Astrometric and Radar Observations of NEOs

Session

Astrometric Observation Uncertainties

6 Oct 2025, 16:15

ESRIN-01121-Magellan (ESRIN)

33. Computing Astrometric Uncertainties

Dave J. Tholen (University of Hawaii)

06/10/2025, 16:15

There are multiple components to the uncertainty of an astrometric observation.The astrometric solution, based on the pixel coordinates of catalog reference stars, involve coefficients whose uncertainties can be computed using standard linear algebra techniques. Independent of that is the centroid of the target object, which depends primarily on the image width and signal-to-noise ratio,...

38. On the uncertainties of astrometric observations

Federica Spoto (Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Minor Planet Center, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, USA)

06/10/2025, 16:40

Astrometric uncertainties are central to any orbit‑fitting procedure. The result of a fit is a nominal solution, which represents the single orbit that best matches the observations, and a confidence region describing the orbital uncertainty, which includes the set of orbital elements statistically compatible with the data and the error model. For well‑observed asteroids, the region is well...

53. Predicted astrometric uncertainty for NEO Surveyor tracklets

Joseph Masiero (Caltech/IPAC)

06/10/2025, 17:05

NEO Surveyor will produce observations of hundreds of thousands of near-Earth objects during its 5-year primary mission. Being taken at mid-infrared wavelengths, the astrometric uncertainties will be generally larger than those from ground-based telescopes, while the planned survey cadence means that each tracklet will cover a longer timespan. The access to low elongations enabled by...

34. NEOCC side-activities enabling precision astrometry

Francisco Ocaña (ESA NEOCC)

07/10/2025, 09:05

One of our main goals is to provide precision astrometry for high-profile objects, which require having a network of telescopes properly characterised and suite of sensors fully understood. We routinely participate in IAWN campaigns for timing, rapid response, but also do training with close-approachers or artificial objects in high orbits or reentering.

Timing of the observations is...

36. High-precision astrometry at ESA NEOCC

Marco Micheli

07/10/2025, 09:30

For more than a decade, here at ESA's NEO Coordination Centre we have been focusing on obtaining high-precision astrometry of priority targets. Over this time, we have developed resources and capabilities that allow for a quick and accurate response to Planetary Defence observational needs.

This talk will begin with an overview of our capabilities, emphasising the value of fast response...

68. Influence of the dynamic classification of asteroids on observation astrometric errors

Nicolo Stronati

07/10/2025, 09:55

Astrometric observations weights, usually computed after a station-specific statistical analysis on the observation residuals, quantify the expected accuracy of data.
The influence on observations weights of external factors such as epoch of observation, magnitude, and employed catalogue has already been proven in the literature.
This work analyses observation residuals of the major surveys...

67. Impact of Observation Time Uncertainty on Orbit Determination: An experiment with real data

Davide Bracali Cioci (SpaceDyS)

07/10/2025, 10:20

Accurate orbit determination of near-Earth objects (NEOs) relies critically on the precision of astrometric
observations, including the timing of each measurement. In this work, we investigate the effect of
observation time uncertainty on orbit determination by analyzing observational data with explicit timing
uncertainty information. We performed Orbit Determination task using astrometric...