Since 2002, Cape Fear High School’s (CFHS) Astronomy Class,
taught by Harlan Devore, has been searching for objects in space. The class
receives hundreds of images, which are pictures of a clear night sky as seen
through the telescopes at the Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) in
Charleston, IL.
Initially, the students looked for super novas with some
success, but the process led to the identification of asteroids. As the students
began submitting information on the many asteroids they found, Devore and Bob
Holmes, the director of ARI, made the decision to pursue a grant from NASA to
fund and further the students’ research.
NASA was skeptical and rejected the grant proposal. Even so,
this minor setback did not deter the young CFHS‘ Astronomers. The students
continued to find numerous asteroids and, in the process, perfect their ability
to identify them. Since acquiring the proper computer software, they have found
asteroids weekly. NASA took notice and awarded CFHS’ Astronomy Class a
three-year grant last fall for Near Earth Objects (NEO) Research, which is
geared toward finding and identifying asteroids that are within
.3 astronomical units from Earth.
Devore said he feels the acquisition of the software is a big
reason for his class’ success. “The advantage is that even though ARI's
telescopes are smaller than those of most of the other NEO recovery operations,
we compensate by using Astrometrica software to stack images to make dim NEOs
brighter,” said Devore. “We have measured hundreds of NEOs -- perhaps nearly a
thousand. We've lost count.” Devore does add that their efforts are not original
discoveries, but his students work to confirm measurements that the big sky
survey telescopes have discovered, to generate follow-up measurements to prove
that the NEOs are real, and to refine the orbit of the objects. This information
is published in the Minor Planet Center’s electronic circular.
Most recently, ARI was the third most productive operation in
confirming and recovering NEOs. To date, CFHS’ Astronomy Class has been credited
with 40 original asteroids. Because of the ‘astronomical success’ Devore and his
students have seen, they are now ready to share their techniques with other
schools. A proposal has been submitted for an educational grant, titled “Killer
Asteroid Program,” which trains high school students across the nation to search
for objects in space.
One of the first schools to be a part of this program is E.E.
Smith High School.
