Dave Grennan Discovers New Asteroid 2009 EN1!!

[martinastro]

Congratulations to Dave Grennan on the recent disovery of asteroid 2009 EN1. Dave discovered this main-belt asteroid from J41 Raheny Observatory, Dublin in the early hours of the 2nd March. This marks Dave's second asteroid discovery in only a few months - a remarkable achievement!. The asteroid was captured at an incredible magnitude +19.6.

Excellent stuff Dave. That is awesome news!!!!. What a start to 2009. Keep us updated with further info.

[Roman White]

Congratulations! It is a great achievement indeed! 

[Paul]

This is splendid news - Terry announced this at the IAA this evening to a rousing round of applause! Well done indeed Dave - keep us posted!

[JohnC]

I don't know the chap but it just shows again that it's not the  profs. with the  big scopes that do all the finding.

Here's a photo of it - I'm astounded that anyone can ID that...marvellous.

http://www.astronomy.ie/asteroiddg1.html

[martinastro]

Dave has a great animation of the asteroid on his site...

http://www.webtreatz.com/

[davegrennan]

Hi All,

Certainly discovering an asteroid was a dream in itself and now discovering two is something that I would have considered unthinkable just a few short years ago. It is a testament to dedication of many other amateurs that we have arrived at this point for without the support and encouragement of many many people this would not have been possible. Of course it is not possible to mention everyone but I think a special mention to Mr.Asteroid, Dave McDonald and of course Andreas Doppler and Eamonn Ansboro. Without the support of these guys, this would not have been possible. I also want to say thanks to Carl for his untiring support and encouragement. The dedication of many of you guys including Martin and John Mc Connell make me feel very unworthy to have been this lucky.

The story of 2009 EN1 began last Sunday night. My setup had been out of commission for some time due to a problem with the camera. I was really only getting back up to speed in the last few weeks, but as ye all know the weather has been severely limiting opportunities. Last Sunday was one of the best nights in some time and a really good opportunity to let go at a serious search effort. When I got a hit I felt full sure that this was something that would readily be identified with a known object but the more I looked the more I began to think 'just maybe'.

With all such discoveries nowadays, it is highly likely that one of the big surveys might have gotten a 'one night stand' on this object. Although its never possible to know this for sure, there is a pretty good chance that linear or catalina have one night 'in the bag'. Therefore getting a second night quickly is vital as there is good chance that they will sweep this area again and get a second night which would then give them discovery credit. Monday night looked good on paper, but some might remember that around 9pm the satellite pics showed cloud magically appearing from apparant clear skies. The Moon would be a problem as the week progressed and I must admit, I thought this one might not work out. Thankfully, Tuesday night turned out to be exceptionally transparent although it was rather windy. The new object was easily picked up despite relatively bright moonlight. I've never empirically tested the absolute mag limit of my system (14" SCT and SBIG ST-402 CCD) however I suspect that it must be possible to go fainter than mag +20.0 on good nights. I really must test this hypothesis on such an evening.

Anyway I prepared and submitted the report to the Minor Planet Center and waited and waited until finally I got an e-mail this afternoon it read

DG00002 K09E01N

In short this means "The object you call Dg00002 is now offically 2009 EN1"

Anyway thanks again to everyone for the kind words

[brianb]

Congratulations!

BTW you got a round of applause at the Irish Astronomical Assoc meeting this evening when the announcement was made.

[Tyler]

Congrats there Dave, thats gotta be an awesome feeling!

[martinastro]

Thanks very much for the above info Dave. To discover one asteroid is a dream come true, but to discover two is simply hard to take in. You must be on cloud 9 ,or way above it now with your emotions on this. I'm genuinely delighted for you and can feel a great sense of pride from your two successes. I know you will find many more and perhaps even the fuzzy light of comet will make its way into your search area!. Your patrol region is a good spot to find them. Thanks for mentioning our names but I have to say that you are as modest as ever Dave. Your dedication and relentless passion made the discovery, only you can take credit for that. There are a lot of talkers in the astronomical community but you are one of the minority of doers...your two asteroids are a testiment to that. Enjoy it and keep hunting!

Congratulations again Dave...outstanding work  

[John9929]

Congratulations Dave, I always knew you would go on to discover more. Keep going there's more discover!