Bisei Spaceguard Center



The Bisei Spaceguard Center (美星スペースガードセンター) is a spaceguard facility adjacent to the Bisei Astronomical Observatory (BAO), an astronomical observatory located at Bisei-chō, Ibara, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The facility was constructed during 1999–2000, where it since conducts the Bisei Asteroid Tracking Telescope for Rapid Survey or BATTeRS (バッターズ), an astronomical survey that solely tracks asteroids and space debris. BATTeRS has discovered numerous minor planets and the periodic, Halley-type comet and near-Earth object C/2001 W2 (BATTERS).

Space debris, along with defunct spaceships, satellites as well as other small objects can present a hazard to operating spacecraft. Built by the Japan Space Forum (JSF) with contributions by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, all expenses of the center are covered by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The telescopes which keep track of any space debris are staffed and operated by members of the Japan Spaceguard Association.

The 1-meter Cassegrain telescope has a field of view of three degrees and there are plans to use a mosaic of ten CCD detectors each one of which will have dimensions of 2096 x 4096 pixels. A 0.5-meter telescope with a field of view of 2 x 2 degrees began operations in February 2000. Once the 1-meter NEO search telescope begins operations, the 0.5-meter telescope will be used to provide follow-up astrometric observations.

The main-belt asteroid 17286 Bisei, discovered by BATTeRS in July 2000, was named after the town where the Bisei Spaceguard Center and the Bisei Astronomical Observatory are located.

List of discovered minor planets
BATTeRS has discovered more than 400 minor planets during its course. As an anomaly, the survey is also credited with the discovery of at Kiso Observatory in 1996, or 4 years before the Bisei Spaceguard Center was constructed. Members of the program include Atsuo Asami, David J. Asher and Syuichi Nakano. Takeshi Urata was also a former member of BATTerS.