NEW ASTEROID SATELLITE DISCOVERY AWARD PAUL D MALEY

NEW ASTEROID SATELLITE DISCOVERY AWARD PAUL D. MALEY IOTA ANNUAL MEETING 2014

NAME OF AWARD • W. J. Merline Award for Discovery of an Asteroid Satellite by Occultation (MADASO)

PURPOSE • TO DRAW ATTENTION TO IOTA WORK AND METHODS, specifically multi-station deploys where 1 observer deploys 3 or more stations • TO RECOGNIZE THE FIRST CONFIRMED AMATEUR DISCOVERY OF AN ASTEROID SATELLITE BY OCCULTATION • TO RECOGNIZE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF BILL MERLINE (SWRI) IN THE FIELD OF ASTEROID SATELLITE DISCOVERY • TO PROVIDE A ONE TIME MONETARY PRIZE SIMILAR TO PRIZES OFFERED IN PRIOR CENTURIES FOR SIMILAR TYPE DISCOVERIES

AWARD • MONETARY PRIZE AND CERTIFICATE • MONETARY AWARD: $1, 000 CONTRIBUTED BY P. MALEY $1, 000 CONTRIBUTED BY R. NUGENT $1, 000 ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTION ● CERTIFICATE AWARD: Confirming organization or individual(s)

MONETARY AWARD ELGIBILITY • CURRENT IOTA MEMBERS WORLDWIDE ONLY • PROFESSIONAL ASTRONOMERS INELIGIBLE • DISCOVERY / CONFIRMATION COULD BE RETROACTIVE • DISCOVERY MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED USING IOTA METHODOLOGY THROUGH OCCULTATION TIMING ONLY • METHODOLOGY: 1 OR MORE FIXED OR MOBILE TIME INSERTED GPS VIDEO SITES

DRAFT GUIDELINES • SEPARATE ONLINE DOCUMENT WILL DEFINE DETAILED STEPS OF AWARD PROCESS (TO BE POSTED LATER)

VALIDATION STAGE-1 • OCCULTATION CANDIDATES OBSERVED: NEO, MBA, DWARF PLANETS PERMITTED • ELECTRONICALLY RECORDED DATA MUST BE SUBMITTED TO IOTA FIRST • INITIAL REVIEW CONDUCTED BY IOTA OFFICERS • IOTA & DISCOVERER(S) DEVELOP REPORT FOR IAU • IF REPORT HOLDS UP, CONFIRMATION REQUIRED BY INDEPENDENT PARTY#1 WITH INDEPENDENT TECHNIQUE • PRELIMINARY ORBIT MUST BE DEFINED

VALIDATION STAGE-2 • CONFIRMATION BY ANOTHER INDEPENDENT TEAM AND METHOD (AO, RADAR, SATELLITE OBSERVATION, LIGHT CURVES, ETC. ) • VALIDATION PANEL ESTABLISHED AFTER INITIAL IOTA REVIEW, CONTINUES THROUGH ENTIRE PROCESS • VALIDATION PANEL SUBMITS RECOMMENDATION TO IAU • IOTA CONFERS AWARD AFTER IAU VALIDATION

IAU “PROVISIONAL” DESIGNATION • NOT CONSIDERED A VALID CONFIRMATION SINCE THERE ARE OBJECTS WITH THAT DESIGNATION WHICH MAY NOT EXIST • PROVISIONAL DESIGNATION IS A PLACEHOLDER ONLY

AWARD DISTRIBUTION • MONETARY AWARD GOES ONLY TO DISCOVERER(S) • IF >1 DISCOVERER, MONEY IS EVENLY DIVIDED • CERTIFICATE TO ALL OTHERS IN THE PROCESS • FINAL AWARD DETERMINATION TO BE DECIDED BY IOTA AFTER INITIAL PANEL RECOMMENDATION & IAU CONCURRENCE

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT • On July 11, 2014, IAU agreed on their participation in the award process

RECOMMENDATION • DOCUMENT AND ADVERTISE AWARD ON IOTA WEB PAGE AND OTHER MEDIA AS OFFICERS SEE FIT • I HAVE PREPARED A TEMPORARY WEB PAGE FOR THE AWARD which will go ‘live’ once any open items have been resolved

DISCUSSION?