Near-Earth Asteroid Orbit Determination

During the Summer Science Program in Astrophysics, as a three-person research team, we focused on the observation and orbit determination of the near-Earth asteroid 1991 PM5. Over multiple nights of observation, we collected astrometric and photometric data using a 0.36 m Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and CCD imaging system.

I developed custom Python pipelines for centroiding, plate reduction, and differential photometry, achieving arcsecond-level astrometric precision. Using a fourth-order implementation of the Method of Gauss with light-time correction, I computed heliocentric orbital elements and refined them through differential correction and Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis.

The final orbital solution was validated against JPL Horizons and submitted to the Minor Planet Center, where it was published and archived. This project marked my first exposure to real scientific uncertainty, numerical instability, and the rigor required for publishable astronomical results.