Two Cisco College Students Discover New Asteroids
Two Cisco College Students Discover New Asteroids in Dr. Patrick Miller’s Astronomy Class. Dr. Miller’s Astronomy School, now taught in over 1,000 schools in more than 50 countries, began in Abilene in 2006.
Harvard University has declared the main belt asteroids found by two Cisco College (Abilene) students, Jessica Williamson and Shane Fuhsch to be “preliminary” status asteroids. These discoveries were made during an Astronomy class using images taken by the PS1 telescope located on Haleakala, Maui and managed by the University of Hawaii. The class is taught by Dr. Patrick Miller, a Hardin Simmons Mathematics professor and astronomer.
The newly found heavenly bodies will be monitored by Harvard’s Minor Planet Center for a period of time, then assuming the 0.5 km boulders of rock remain in their current location between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, their status will be upgraded to “provisional”. The Harvard Center will continue to monitor the asteroids for two to three years before the findings will be categorized as “discovered”. The discoverers, Williamson and Fuhsch, will be allowed to name the asteroids. At the present they are known as 2012FE25 and 2012FG36 respectively.
Presently approximately 400 asteroids are categorized by Harvard as “provisional”, while only 15 have been deemed “discovered” and named/numbered. The fact that two “preliminary” asteroids were discovered by students in one college class within such a condensed time frame is indeed a rarity. The odds of this find happening are astronomical.
Dr. Patrick Miller, a professor of Mathematics at Hardin Simmons University’s Holland School of Sciences and Mathematics since 2005, began teaching at Cisco College in 1999. He and an undergraduate student created the astronomy school, known as the IASC (pronounced Isaac), in October of 2006. The International Astronomical Search Collaboration), makes the educational outreach program available to high schools and colleges at no cost to the participating schools. The school is the basis of Cisco College’s Astronomy class. Dr. Miller is the Director of IASC, which is a collaboration of several institutions:
· Hardin-Simmons University (Abilene, TX)
· Lawrence Hall of Science (University of California, Berkeley)
· Astronomical Research Institute (Westfield, IL)
· Global Hands-On Universe Association (Lisbon, Portugal)
· Sierra Stars Observatory Network (Markleeville, CA)
· Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX)
· Yerkes Observatory (University of Chicago)
· National Astronomical Observatories of China (Beijing, China)
· Pan-STARRS (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii)
· Faulkes Telescopes Project (Wales)
· Yerkes Observatory (Williams Bay, WI)
· Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY)
· Astronomers Without Borders (Calabasas, CA)
· Astrometrica (H. Raab, Austria)
IASC began in October 2006, with five schools participating, and, by the spring of 2007, the school had grown by 100 times to 500 schools in 50 countries, including China, Germany, Taiwan, Poland, Belgium, England, Brazil, and many other nations across the world. Dr. Miller travels the globe teaching astronomy seminars in Universities, such as Berkley in California, where he conducts an annual May-mester course.
Dr. Miller anticipates continued expansion beyond the approximately 1,000 schools he currently oversees. Discoveries such as those made in Abilene this past week will certainly ensure an even greater interest and growth in Dr. Millers IASC project.
Harvard University has declared the main belt asteroids found by two Cisco College (Abilene) students, Jessica Williamson and Shane Fuhsch to be “preliminary” status asteroids. These discoveries were made during an Astronomy class using images taken by the PS1 telescope located on Haleakala, Maui and managed by the University of Hawaii. The class is taught by Dr. Patrick Miller, a Hardin Simmons Mathematics professor and astronomer.
The newly found heavenly bodies will be monitored by Harvard’s Minor Planet Center for a period of time, then assuming the 0.5 km boulders of rock remain in their current location between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, their status will be upgraded to “provisional”. The Harvard Center will continue to monitor the asteroids for two to three years before the findings will be categorized as “discovered”. The discoverers, Williamson and Fuhsch, will be allowed to name the asteroids. At the present they are known as 2012FE25 and 2012FG36 respectively.
Presently approximately 400 asteroids are categorized by Harvard as “provisional”, while only 15 have been deemed “discovered” and named/numbered. The fact that two “preliminary” asteroids were discovered by students in one college class within such a condensed time frame is indeed a rarity. The odds of this find happening are astronomical.
Dr. Patrick Miller, a professor of Mathematics at Hardin Simmons University’s Holland School of Sciences and Mathematics since 2005, began teaching at Cisco College in 1999. He and an undergraduate student created the astronomy school, known as the IASC (pronounced Isaac), in October of 2006. The International Astronomical Search Collaboration), makes the educational outreach program available to high schools and colleges at no cost to the participating schools. The school is the basis of Cisco College’s Astronomy class. Dr. Miller is the Director of IASC, which is a collaboration of several institutions:
· Hardin-Simmons University (Abilene, TX)
· Lawrence Hall of Science (University of California, Berkeley)
· Astronomical Research Institute (Westfield, IL)
· Global Hands-On Universe Association (Lisbon, Portugal)
· Sierra Stars Observatory Network (Markleeville, CA)
· Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX)
· Yerkes Observatory (University of Chicago)
· National Astronomical Observatories of China (Beijing, China)
· Pan-STARRS (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii)
· Faulkes Telescopes Project (Wales)
· Yerkes Observatory (Williams Bay, WI)
· Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY)
· Astronomers Without Borders (Calabasas, CA)
· Astrometrica (H. Raab, Austria)
IASC began in October 2006, with five schools participating, and, by the spring of 2007, the school had grown by 100 times to 500 schools in 50 countries, including China, Germany, Taiwan, Poland, Belgium, England, Brazil, and many other nations across the world. Dr. Miller travels the globe teaching astronomy seminars in Universities, such as Berkley in California, where he conducts an annual May-mester course.
Dr. Miller anticipates continued expansion beyond the approximately 1,000 schools he currently oversees. Discoveries such as those made in Abilene this past week will certainly ensure an even greater interest and growth in Dr. Millers IASC project.