The O.C.A.-DLR Asteroid Survey (O.D.A.S.)

Abstract

O.D.A.S. is a dedicated programme to search for asteroids and comets, with special emphasis on NEOs within the framework of the EUNEASO proejct, in cooperation and support of global efforts in NEO research, initiated by the WGNEO of the IAU, and the Spaceguard Foundation. It is operated at the 90cm Schmidt telescope of the OCA at Calern, north of Nice, France and the DLR Institute of Planetary Exploration, Berlin Adlershof, Germany. The current system uses a 2k CCD camera in combination with an automated asteroid detection software package. Operated since October 1996, the survey has discovered several NEOs and Mars-crossers, and a large number of Main-Belt asteroids. The hardware and software package used will be briefly described, as well as the search strategy, analysis technique and operations. A summary of results and a future outlook of the project will be presented. A continuous update of recent discoveries and the observing statistics can be found on the O.D.A.S. webpage under the URL http://earn.dlr.de/odas/.