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Initial linking methods and their classification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2006

Leif Kahl Kristensen
Leif Kahl Kristensen*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark email: LKK@PHYS.AU.DK
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Abstract

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The problem of initial linking of asteroids is of increasing interest for the next generation surveys. During the first week after discovery elliptical elements are very uncertain and other methods are used. A summary is given of 7 initial linking methods. There are two different types: In one, a search area is computed on a second night from the known and undoubtedly linked positions, typically on the first night. The other type assumes candidates which are then checked by the computation of O – C residuals of an orbit. Computations may be classified as belonging to the 3-dimensional space or the 2-dimensional sky-plane. A new basis, with a simpler computational algorithm, is given for the widely used Väisälä method. For a new N-Observation Orbit method a simple, efficient PC-programme is given.

Keywords

Orbit determinationidentificationephemerides

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