At the end of an asteroid hunting career, it may be human nature to think of the good old daysand what "amateurs" could do.
It was the end of 2003 and I determined to make use of the high QE small pixel ST10XME CCD (0.8 mag. fainter than a AP9) to extend thearc of a newly discovered TNO 2003 UY117, which has a short arc fromOct. 22 (691) to Nov. 24 (695).
Since this TNO was located near the west when the Sun set and myscope's viewing restriction, only a few 10 minutes exposures werepossible on each night (Dec. 17, 18, 19, 20, 22). Only because therough location and PA was known, after stacking three 10 minexposures, I managed to detect a very weak moving objects that matchthe speed and PA of 2006UY117. Hehe.. reaching mag. 21.6 was fun.
And thus the orbit was extended from 1 month to 2 months. ReinerStoss then use his excellent skill to find precovery images on NEATarchrive images on 2001 and 2002. And so now we know 2003UY117 is a Centaur, with a=55 au and e=0.41.
So it is a team of professional who discovered the TNO, a amateur toextend the arc and another amateur to precover the image. This is fun.Bill Yeung
