SSOS: A Moving-Object Image Search Tool for Asteroid Precovery

Abstract

It is very difficult to find archival images of solar system objects. While regular archive searches can find images at a fixed location, they cannot find images of moving targets. Archival images have become increasingly useful to extragalactic and stellar astronomers the last few years, but until now, solar system researchers have been at a disadvantage in this respect. The Solar System Object Search (SSOS) at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre allows users to search for images of moving objects. SSOS accepts as input either a list of observations, an object designation, a set of orbital elements, or a user-generated ephemeris for an object. It then searches for images containing that object over a range of dates. The user is then presented with a list of images containing that object from a variety of archives. Initially created to search the CFHT MegaCam archive, SSOS has been extended to other telescope archives, including Gemini, Subaru/SuprimeCam, HST, several ESO instruments, and the SDSS, for a total of 6.5 million images.