Astronomy:The Daily Minor Planet

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Short description: Citizen science project
The Daily Minor Planet
Type of site
Citizen science Project
Available inEnglish, German, French, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Italian, Hindi, and Arabic
Created byDavid Carson Fuls; D. C. Fuls, et al.[1]
Websitehttps://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/the-daily-minor-planet/about/research
CommercialNo
RegistrationYes, not mandatory
Current statusOngoing

The Daily Minor Planet is a citizen science project run by the Zooniverse and The Catalina Sky Survey with a funding grant from NASA, to use citizen science volunteer classifications to discover asteroids with recent data from the G96 Mount Lemmon Survey 1.52 m (60 in) cassegrain reflector telescope.[2][3][4][5] The main objective of the project is to search for undiscovered asteroids in order to protect the planet by locating potentially harmful Near-Earth asteroids.[6][7][8][9]

The main-belt asteroid 227711 Dailyminorplanet was named in honor of thousands of volunteers who have participated in this project.[10][11]

The Daily Minor Planet Zooniverse project now has two workflows of data for volunteers to analyze with the inclusion of images taken by the 2.3-meter Bok Telescope (V00) at Kitt Peak National Observatory as of March 2026.[12]

List of Notable Discoveries

Asteroid Designation Orbit or Family Semi-
major
axis
(AU)
Eccentricity
of orbit
Diameter
(m)
Discovery
date
Refs
2023 VN3 Apollo 1.2166279 0.2142180 26.17 2023-11-05 MPC · JPL
2023 TW Aten 0.8458886 0.2912585 9.30 2023-10-04 MPC · JPL
2024 SN3 Aten 0.9150081 0.1096303 11.02 2024-09-22 MPC · JPL
2025 HD3 Aten 0.8316599 0.4446249 23.78 2025-04-24 MPC · JPL
2025 KU1 Apollo 1.0738396 0.0810991 15.10 2025-05-22 MPC · JPL
2026 KS3 Amor 1.6766994 0.3666147 62.51 2026-05-23 MPC · JPL

See also

References

  1. "The Daily Minor Planet: About Research". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/the-daily-minor-planet/about/research. Retrieved 12 May 2025. 
  2. Voices, Earthsky (19 May 2023). "Help spot asteroids! The Daily Minor Planet needs you". Earth & Sky. https://earthsky.org/space/help-spot-asteroids-daily-minor-planet-project-nasa/. Retrieved 12 May 2025. 
  3. "Join the Hunt: Astronomers Need Help Finding Asteroids Hurtling Through Our Solar System" (in en). 2023-05-20. https://scitechdaily.com/join-the-hunt-astronomers-need-help-finding-asteroids-hurtling-through-our-solar-system/. 
  4. Trembley, Robert (18 May 2023). "The Daily Minor Planet – Discover New Asteroids Every Day!". Vatican Observatory. https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/sacred-space-astronomy/the-daily-minor-planet-discover-new-asteroids-every-day/. Retrieved 16 May 2025. 
  5. Tate, Jay (1 November 2023). "Daily Minor Planet volunteers spot an asteroid passing close to Earth". The Spaceguard Centre. https://spaceguardcentre.com/daily-minor-planet-volunteers-spot-an-asteroid-passing-close-to-earth/. Retrieved 16 May 2025. 
  6. "Citizen Science Project Nets a New Asteroid, and It's a Close One". https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/news/spotlight/citizen-science-project-nets-new-asteroid-and-its-close-one. Retrieved 12 May 2025. 
  7. "The Daily Minor Planet: About Research". https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/fulsdavid/the-daily-minor-planet/about/research. 
  8. Boyle, Alan (16 May 2023). "Astronomers Want Your Help to Identify Risky Asteroids". Universe Today. https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-citizen-identify-asteroids. Retrieved 16 May 2025. 
  9. Perkins, Tony (1 January 2024). "Asteroid hunters welcome Arizona citizen scientists to scan the sky". AZPM News. https://news.azpm.org/p/news-topical-sci/2024/1/26/218928-asteroid-hunters-welcome-arizona-citizen-scientists-to-scan-the-sky/. Retrieved 16 May 2025. 
  10. "WGSBN Bull. 5, #7, 7". International Astronomical Union. 28 April 2025. https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/index.html. Retrieved 28 May 2025. 
  11. "(227711) Dailyminorplanet = 1998 TK28 = 2006 DP114". International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center. 28 April 2025. https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=227711. Retrieved 28 May 2025. 
  12. Science Editorial Team, NASA (13 March 2026). "Extra Extra! Extra Data Stream Added to the Daily Minor Planet!". NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/citizen-science/extra-extra-extra-data-stream-added-to-the-daily-minor-planet/. Retrieved 31 May 2026.