講演情報
[O20-03]NASA’s Planetary Defence Project: Asteroid Search and Detection Campaign with Astrometrica in Ghana.
*Bingunmeh Justpa Gukuu1, Miracle Chibuzor Marcel 3, Bingunmeh Justpa Gukuu 2, Bingunmeh Justpa Gukuu 3 (1. University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani (Ghana), 2. Ghana Astronomical Science (Ghana), 3. Pan-African Citizen Science e-Laboratory (Nigeria))
キーワード：
Planetary defence、Citizen science、Asteroids、Astrometrica、Near-Earth Asteroids、Ghana
Planetary defence against near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) is a crucial global effort that requires international cooperation to monitor and address potential threats. This programme highlights Ghana's contributions to this area through the Pan-African Asteroid Search Campaign, a citizen science initiative led by the Pan-African Citizen Science e-Laboratory (PACS e-Lab) in collaboration with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC). By training Ghanaian students and enthusiasts in asteroid detection using accessible tools like Astrometrica software, the campaign has fostered scientific engagement and led to notable discoveries, including the provisional asteroid 2021 PV141 identified by Ghanaian citizen scientists. This work discusses the programme's methodology and findings, emphasising outreach efforts to inspire the next generation of African scientists while enhancing global asteroid monitoring. This outreach resulted in the formation of the Ghana Astronomical Science team in August 2025 and has since yielded three preliminary discoveries during the August-September campaign (P12ddzE and P12dtsk) and September-October campaign (P22eMcw). The IASC team will now conduct further studies to verify whether these detections are true asteroids or false positives. This work underscores the importance of citizen science in democratising astronomy and space science, as well as bolstering planetary defence.