Using the Moving Object Search Form

Instrument Selection UT Start Date UT End Date Target or NAIF ID Orbital Elements Manual Input Object Name Epoch Eccentricity Inclination Ascending Node Argument of Perihelion Semi-major Axis Mean Anomaly Perihelion Time Perihelion Distance Data Type

Choosing the Instrument:

Choose one or more of the KOA archived instruments: DEIMOS, ESI, HIRES, KCWI, LRIS, LWS, MOSFIRE, NIRC, NIRC2, NIRES, NIRSPEC, and OSIRIS. Keck Interferometer data are not included since there are no known KI observations of moving targets.

Entering Search Criteria

Moving object searches can be performed by either entering a name or ID that is resolvable by JPL HORIZONS or by manually entering the orbital elements. Regardless of the method for computing the ephemeris, the UT dates over which the search is to be conducted is required.

UT Start Date

UT start date of the timeframe searched. The time of the start date is set to 00:00:00.0.

Allowed format:

YYYY-MM-DD

UT End Date

UT end date of the timeframe searched. If left undefined, the single UT start date is assumed. The time of the end date is set to 23:59:59.9.

Allowed format:

YYYY-MM-DD

Target or NAIF ID:

Search for an asteroid, comet, planet, or satellite by name or NAIF ID (SPK-ID). NAIF IDs (SPK-IDs) can be found using the JPL Small-Body Database Browser.

Ambiguous NAIF IDs are resolved in this priority of object types: planets, natural satellites, asteroids, comets. If a name is given that resolves to more than one object ('Io' can be Juper's moon Io or the asteroid 85 Io), then an informational message is provided giving the possible options. Users should rerun the query using the unique identification.

Orbital Elements Manual Input

For new asteroids and comets that are not yet in the JPL HORIZONS database, the Moving Object Search Service allows users to manually enter orbital elements. All manual orbit queries require and object name (simply a string to label the results), epoch, eccentricity, inclination, ascending node, and the argument of perihelion. Additionally, users are required to enter either semi-major axis and mean anomaly or perihelion time and perihelion distance. For best results from the search, all entries should include as many significant figures as possible since the fields of view for most of the instruments are very small.

Object Name:

When searching for a moving object using the orbital elements input form, the Object Name entry is only used for tagging the results table. This string should only contain alpha-numeric characters (ABC..., abc..., 012...) with no spaces or punctuation.

Example Input:

MyNewObject

Epoch:

The epoch (in units of JD) for which the orbital elements are valid.

Example Input:

2457800.5

Eccentricity:

The eccentricity of the moving object's orbit.

Example Input:

0.164587024192538

Inclination:

The inclination (in units of degrees) for the moving object's orbit.

Example Input:

3.06376292337028

Ascending Node:

The ascending node (in units of degrees) for the moving object's orbit.

Example Input:

80.88034501826424

Argument of Perihelion:

The argument of perihelion (in units of degrees) for the moving object's orbit.

Example Input:

250.0144262431933

Semi-major Axis:

The semi-major axis (in units of AU) for the moving object's orbit. If entering a semi-major axis, then you must also enter the orbit's mean anomaly. This combination would be appropriate for an asteroid-like orbit.

Example Input:

2.434292642077133

Mean Anomaly:

The mean anomaly (in units of degrees) for the moving object's orbit. If entering a mean anomaly, then you must also enter the orbit's semi-major axis. This combination would be appropriate for an asteroid-like orbit.

Example Input:

136.722830835853

Perihelion Time:

The perihelion time (in units of JD) for the user-entered moving object orbital elements. If entering a perihelion time, then you must also enter the orbit's perihelion distance. This combination would be appropriate for a comet-like orbit.

Example Input:

2457273.638924116862

Perihelion Distance:

The perihelion distance (in units of AU) for the moving object's orbit. If entering a perihelion distance, then you must also enter the orbit's perihelion time. This combination would be appropriate for a comet-like orbit.

Example Input:

2.033639668505583

Data Type

Types of science files: image, spec, or both (default)
All instruments have both data types except for HIRES which only has spec.