RECON - Occultations of Outer Solar System Objects

这个试点项目将启动一个大型、协调的公民科学网络的发展，以研究柯伊伯带的小型太阳系天体。对这些天体的研究已经导致了对行星形成和太阳系历史的理解的重大改进；确定它们的大小对于限制它们的表面反照率和估计不同动态亚种群的尺寸-频率分布是至关重要的。研究与教育合作掩星网络（RECON）被提议最终成为一个由40个公民科学家操作的站点的集合，这些站点分布在美国西部，从亚利桑那州南部到华盛顿州北部，每个站点都使用一个11英寸的望远镜和视频摄像系统，目的是通过观察背景恒星的掩星来测量外太阳系中小到100公里的物体的大小。整个网络预计最终每年能测量出1到2个柯伊伯带天体的大小。这个试点项目将支持初步建立10个台站，以发展和完善操作程序，并展示该网络的科学能力。观测设备将主要位于服务不足的社区，并隶属于教育机构，如K-12学区、图书馆和非正式科学中心。将招募和教育当地的参与者在他们当地的地点进行观察，从而不仅作为公民科学家参与尖端研究，而且还通过网络和他们自己的社区帮助传播结果。

This pilot project will initiate the development of a large, coordinated citizen-science network to study small Solar System bodies in the Kuiper Belt. Studies of this population of objects have already led to major improvements in the understanding of planet formation and Solar System history; determining their sizes is essential to constraining their surface albedos and estimating the size-frequency distributions of different dynamical sub-populations. The Research and Education Cooperative Occultation Network (RECON) is proposed to eventually be a collection of 40 citizen-scientist-operated stations spread across the western United States from southern Arizona to northern Washington, each employing an 11-inch telescope and video camera system, with the purpose of measuring sizes of objects in the outer Solar System as small as 100 km by observing occultations of background stars. The full network is expected eventually to produce measurements of the sizes of 1 to 2 Kuiper Belt objects per year. This pilot project will support the initial establishment of 10 stations in order to develop and refine operating procedures and demonstrate the scientific capabilities of the network. The observing equipment will be located primarily in underserved communities, and affiliated with educational institutions such as K-12 school districts, libraries, and informal science centers. Local participants will be recruited and educated to carry out observations at their local sites, thus not only participating in cutting-edge research as citizen scientists, but also helping to disseminate the results through the network and in their own communities.