Update: The Planetary Science Data System’s Small Bodies Node and the MPC

1. Update: The Planetary Science Data System’s Small Bodies Node and the MPC J. Bauer (UMD, PDS SBN PI), Tim Spahr (NEOSciences), M. Holman (Harvard CfA, MPC Director) Additional Contributions from T. Farnham, E. Warner, M. Payne, P. Veres, M. S. Kelley, A. Mamoutkine, D. Darg and the SBN and MPC personnel. PDS MC F2F, March 24, 2019

2. The Minor Planet Center • The MPC is the world’s nerve center (IAU designated) for asteroid & comet observations. • The MPC collects, processes, distributes all positional measurements, orbits, and discovery information for all minor planets and comets (and some natural satellites too). • The MPC alerts the PDCO and elements of the International Asteroid Warning Network of any potential for impact by newly discovered NEOs. • The MPC helps coordinate worldwide observers. • MPC has become a functional sub-node of the Small Bodies Node of the NASA Planetary Data System, which intermediates between the MPC and NASA’s PDCO, the MPC’s primary source of funding

3. Recent Operations Developments: • SBN has offloaded some MPC ancillary responsibilities to the Node (LCDB, IAWN, DB distribution) • Recent hardware upgrades at the SBN • Facilitate new data volumes • Dedicated IAWN and MPC DB server • Archiving the MPC database: SBN Now hosts a live copy of the MPC Database • Backed up to UMD’s cloud-based resources • Full history of original database and incremental upgrades • A. Mamoutkine managing MPC interfaces • SBN will be the distributor of the MPC database in the near future. • Initial test of new Postgress DB ingest and distribution completed in Feb 2019. • NB: OLAF now upgraded to PDS4 • Facilitates small (non-mission) data providers, typical of MPC follow-up providers A Good Resource for Backup!

4. LC database Migrated to SBN • Light Curve Database (Brian Warner) • Still maintained by Brian, but home at SBN-PSI

5. New IAWN Website Launched 3/31, 2018: http://iawn.net • Organize Observing Campaigns (2012 TC4, Wirtanen, and 1999 KW4)

6. New IAWN Campaign • 1999 KW4 Close Approach: • May 25, 2019

7. Metrics • Now harvested from MPC database… since Sept.; fully automated updated. • Shows the volume of processing by the MPC • Identifies areas for optimization • Follow-up is resource-constrained, so focus is to increase IDs and linking to lessen the load on the NEOCP

8. Additional MPC-related Desiderata • Full use of MPC Checker as SSOID for archived SBN survey data • Issuance of DOIs for MPECs • Integrate characterization data and pre-covery functionality from the PDS SBN assets • Require capability and growth of surveys ingested at both sub-nodes. • Development of full-service archive retrieval tools. • Both NEOCam and conceivably LSST data could be utilized in an automated fashion.

9. Integration of Holdings • Expand our archives and systematically facilitate ingest of large-scale Ground and Space-Based survey data: • This is particularly an SBN problem • Coordinate across other archives too (NB: Response to Nov. RFI) • Mutual support across archival sub-nodes for assets

10. MPC Tool improvements Generalized MPChecker Goal • Statistically robust attribution of detections / tracklets to known orbits. Requirements • Accurate integration of orbits, incorporating multiple non-gravitational forces • Robust generation of covariance statistics for orbital fits • Rapid propagation of orbits (& uncertainties) to generate statistically robust uncertainty regions on the sky • Rigorous criteria for the association of candidate detections / tracklets with propagated catalog orbits • Optional Inclusion of Debiasing Models • Parallel (test) deployment: May - July 2019

11. New MPC-Maintained Metrics Page Fate of NEO Submissions NEOCP Lifetimes • Community-related metrics and sight reporting statistics, as well as report-time intervals

12. ADES • Astrometry Data Exchange Standard contains schema for variety of observation types and additional attributes from 80-column format: • Optical, Space-based, radar • Still receiving old format • Xml (and psv) formats • Uncertainties and attributes for additional measurables • MPC receiving ADES, announced in MPEC • TBD: • Assigning submissionsIDs & observationIDs [for user queries of tracklet and detection status] • Export complete ADES converted DB

13. Additional Short Term MPC Advancements • Exposure information format for Non-detections (for coordinating NEOCP follow-up) E.g. - For square equatorially-aligned field { "action": "exposed", "surveyExpName": "AK101_Jxpf341-a", "mode": "survey", "mpcCode": "802", "time": "2018-01-01 11:22:33.456", "duration": 120, "center": [255.167,-29.008], "width": 2.5, "limit": 19.5, "filter": "r" }

14. New Uncertainty Calculations • Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo approach. • Implemented Feb., 2019

15. Rapidly (NlogN steps) Identified ~104 likely objects in the isolated tracklet file (ITF) pyTrax/Heliocentric Linking: Concept Holman et al. 2018

16. Why? Expanding Datasets forthcoming… ~200 Million Observations/Month (several million/day) with LSST and NEOCAM

17. Community Input: • NEO Operations Workshops (DPS): • MPC makes public report and solicits direct user input. • Webform comment boxes (at MPC, SBN websites) implemented [email outputs sent to MPC, SBN & MUG representative]. • The MPC Users Group (MUG): • Guide improvements of the MPC and its processes and services for the current era, focusing primarily on the surveys and NEO follow-up operations. • Help the MPC community get the most out of its collective resources, while meeting its main objectives. • Best position the MPC and members of its community to cope with the increasing volume and velocity of data that will come from the expansion of current surveys

18. MUG Alternates: • Tyler Linder (ARI) • Larry Denneau (UH) • Davide Farnocchia (JPL) • Melissa Brucker (Spacewatch) Full Members: • Steve Chesley (JPL: Chair) •  Rob Seaman (Catalina) •  Marc Buie (SWRI) •  Richard Wainscoat (UH) •  Dave Tholen (UH) •  Carrie Nugent (Olin) • Two meetings per year. One at the CfA (MPC). One at another site. • Clear Charter and rotating roster*; always findings. • Recent Recommendations • Remove any dependence on VMS machines • Migrate to Database-Centric Operation • Mitigate any single-point staffing dependencies • * Squeaky wheels will be threatened with MUG terms!!!

19. Mike A’Hearn – A possible DPS prize lecture • Action Item from Nov. Meeting: Mike A'Hearn DPS Lecture • Contacted two former chairs and the sitting chair and they are showing interest in moving forward with a prize lecture in his memory.  • To move forward, • we would need to decide to do/endorse/support it, • to craft a short preliminary paragraph of the scope of the prize lecture (NB the DPS committee meets at the beginning of May, so by the end of April), • Longer term: • to state possibly an intention of raising, or plan of how to establish, a small start of an endowment for the prize. ~60-80K, and • draft a full proposal. We are also talking to UMD for possible help with raising the endowment, too.  • In the short term, asking the help/input of the EC in drafting the scope statement, and later the proposal, or at least a round of eyes-on.