Script NEOCPMon may be used to automatically monitor the NEO Confirmation Page (NEOCP), ensuring that you always have the latest NEOCP ephemeris information. This is very useful since the contents of the NEOCP can change very rapidly, with new objects being added, objects having their ephemerides updated, or removed from the page. This script also performs an automated analysis of the ephemeris uncertainty information provided on the NEOCP for some objects, and writes a text file containing observation requests for all the NEOCP objects which will be visible from the telescope location during the current or coming night. This text file can be processed by the TAO scheduler, making it easy to schedule observations of all or part of the objects listed on the NEOCP.

On the first time you run NEOCPMon, you should take some time to customize the script to suit your specific needs. This is done by editing the text file TAO\targets\NEOCPMon.cfg, whose contents are shown below:

obsCode = 860                 ' Observatory code
startOffset = -4              ' Start ephemeris at now + n hours
UToffset = 0                  ' Offset of computer clock with respect to UT (hours)
sleepTime = 10.               ' Check NEOCP for updates every n min
timeBetweenEphDownloads = 60. ' Download NEOCP ephemeris every n min even if there are no updates
timeout = 120.                ' Timeout for ephemeris requests to the NEOCP (sec)
siteLat = -23.00056           ' Latitude (deg)
siteLon = -46.96506           ' Longitude (deg)
highSunAltObs = -15.          ' Max. sun altitude (deg) during observations
minAltObs = 25.               ' Min. object altitude (deg) for NEOCP observations
user = PRH                    ' Default user for NEOCP observations
confLevel = 75                ' Confidence level (%) for building search mosaics
CCDfieldWidth = 18.5          ' CCD field east-west dimension (arcminutes)
CCDfieldHeight = 12.3         ' CCD field north-south dimension (arcminutes)
stripWidth = 3.5              ' Min. width (arcminutes) covered by central row of search mosaics
overlap = 1.5                 ' Min. overlap (arcminutes) between adjacent fields in search mosaics

The various parameters which may be specified in this configuration file are explained below:

• obsCode. This is your observatory's MPC observatory code. If you don't have an observatory code, you may use a nearby station's code.

• startOffset. This is an integer number of hours which specifies the start date and time of the NEOCP ephemerides with respect to the current time. For example, if you specify startOffset = -6, then ephemerides will start 6 hours before the current time. This parameter will normally be zero or have a negative value.

• UToffset. This is the offset of your computer's clock with respect to UT (expressed in hours).

• sleepTime. This is the interval (in minutes) between successive checkings of the NEOCP for updates.

• timeBetweenEphDownloads. This is a time interval (expressed in minutes) between successive downloads of ephemerides from the NEOCP. NEOCPMon will download new ephemerides whenever there is any update to the NEOCP; however, even if there is no update, new ephemerides will be downloaded at regular time intervals whose length is equal to the value of this parameter.

• timeOut. This is a timeout value (expressed in seconds) for ephemeris requests to the NEOCP. For example, timeOut = 120 means that NEOCPMon will wait for 120 sec after sending an ephemeris request to the MPC web server before giving up on that request. The value of this parameter should be considerably larger than the average time it takes to receive the output of an ephemeris request from the MPC web site.

• siteLat. This is the latitude of the observing station (in degrees; north latitudes are positive).

• siteLon. This is the longitude of the observing station (in degrees; longitudes east of Greenwich are positive).

• highSunAltObs. Specify the highest sun altitude (in degrees) at which you could possibly perform observations of NEOCP objects. This would normally be between -13 and -15 deg (corresponding to the end of evening twilight or the start of morning twilight).

• minAltObs. Specify the lowest target altitude (in degrees) at which you could possibly perform observations of NEOCP objects.

• user. Specify the 3-character ID of the user who normally requests observations of NEOCP objects.

• confLevel. This parameter specifies an approximate minimum fraction of the alternative ephemeris positions given in NEOCP uncertainty maps which will be covered by the mosaics of partially overlapping fields to be built by NEOCPMon. It can only assume the discrete values 50%, 75%, 90%, 95%, 99%.

• CCDfieldWidth. Specify the east-west dimension (in arcminutes) of your full CCD field of view. The CCD detector is assumed to have its edges aligned with the north-south and east-west directions.

• CCDfieldHeight. Specify the north-south dimension (in arcminutes) of your full CCD field of view. The CCD detector is assumed to have its edges aligned with the north-south and east-west directions.

• stripWidth. NEOCPMon fits a confidence ellipse to the "cloud" of alternative ephemeris positions given in a NEOCP uncertainty map, and builds a mosaic of partially overlapping search fields whose centers are located along the ellipse's major axis and (if a wider area needs to be covered) along equally spaced lines parallel to the major axis. The parameter stripWidth is the width (in arcminutes) of a strip centered on the major axis which is guaranteed to be covered by those fields whose centers are located on the major axis itself. Depending on the orientation of the confidence ellipse, the search fields with centers on the major axis can cover a strip which is wider than the minimum width specified in this option. The value of stripWidth should be a fraction of the smallest dimension of the CCD field-of-view.

• overlap. This is the minimum overlap (in acrminutes) between adjacent fields in a search mosaic. This should be of the order of your telescope's worst-case pointing errors to avoid the possibility of leaving unsearched "holes" in the mosaic when the search is carried out. The mosaics built by NEOCPMon may actually have an overlap between fields which is greater than the minimum overlap specified in this option. This is sometimes necessary to ensure that the mosaic covers a strip of the specified width around the confidence ellipse's major axis. Larger values of the parameter stripWidth tend to increase the amount of this "extra overlap", increasing the number of fields (and hence the amount of telescope time) required to cover a given area.