<p>The Minor Planet Center inconspicuously puts this under "Distant Artificial Satellites Observation."
<a href="https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/DASO/DASO.html" rel="noreferrer">DASO Circulars</a> 561-566 have observations of the roadster 2018-017A.
It's also on the short list of artificial objects for which MPC can <a href="https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/artsats/artsats.html" rel="noreferrer">generate ephemerides</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-18T01:24:29.147Z
Jackpot! This is wonderful, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the speedy reply.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-18T01:55:56.297Z
these guys would know https://phys.org/news/2018-02-tesla-shot-space-collide-earth.html
bandybabboon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-18T03:45:53.787Z
@com.prehensible thanks for the link. Phys.org usually does an excellent job in their write-ups of current papers and preprints, and this is no exception.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-21T22:33:22.413Z
Currently at 336 individual observations, 330 of which are now used in JPL solution #8.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-07T09:17:46.123Z
[I've found a mention](https://space.stackexchange.com/a/29958/12102) of observations as late as 19-Mar-2018, but the last documented observation that the Circulars are showing is on 22-Feb-2018. Any idea why there is a disparity?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-17T18:09:29.957Z
2018-02-22T04:48:43.063Z
2018-02-22T04:48:43.063Z
Mike G
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vTU2C.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vTU2C.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><strong>above:</strong> (see small red lines near center of image) Tesla Roadster. 18 Feb. 2018, 11:28 UT. The image above comes from the average of ten, 300-seconds exposures, remotely taken with the 16”-f/3.75 robotic unit (“Pearl”) of Tenagra Observatories in Arizona. The Tesla Roadster is marked with two red lines. At the imaging time, the car was about 3.5 millions of km from the Earth, that is 9 lunar distances. The object was at mag. 21.0. Image by Gianluca Masi (The Virtual Telescope Project) and Michael Schwartz (Tenagra Observatories, Ltd). From <a href="https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2018/02/19/elon-musks-tesla-roadster-imaged-18-feb-2018/" rel="noreferrer">Virtual Telescope Project</a>.</p>

<p><strong>below:</strong> Zoomed in and cropped showing Roadster's image.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/VjuI2.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/VjuI2.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<hr>

<p>This <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/16305/7982">excellent answer</a> from @MikeG shows exactly how to find a list of observations for a minor planet. But I'd like to ask about a list of observations of an artificial object.</p>

<p>Currently the NASA JPL's <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi" rel="noreferrer">Horizons</a> site is also providing predicted trajectory of an unusual spacecraft which is referred to as Roadster. It is the cherry-red Tesla Roadster attached to a roughly 3.6 x 8 meter white rocket body in heliocentric orbit, and it has been tracked by many different observatories because of its unique circumstances. (some GIFs in <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/25002/7982">this answer</a>) Roadster's 4.6 minute rotational period was also recently <a href="https://twitter.com/jotajotahermes/status/962545252446932993" rel="noreferrer">reported</a>.</p>

<p>Currently Horizons is reporting solution #7. They have been updating their solutions regularly as new observations are made and reported because as Roadster recedes from Earth it is rapidly dimming and will soon pass magnitude +20, so each new solution helps for the reacquisition of the object as it dims.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>This trajectory is based on JPL solution #7, a fit to 269 ground-based optical astrometric measurements spanning 2018 Feb 8.2 to 13.4.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Would these observations still be catalogued in an astronomical database of observations? Since it's not a natural minor planet, it seems the <a href="https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/" rel="noreferrer">Minor Planet Center</a> would not be hosting this information, but it seems it should still be made available to astronomers for identification purposes.</p>

<p>But where?</p>

<hr>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/60dit.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/60dit.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>The header of the Horizons output includes this:</p>

<pre><code>*******************************************************************************
Revised: Feb 13, 2018          Tesla Roadster (spacecraft)             -143205
          (solution #7)

 Tesla Roadster (AKA: Starman, 2018-017A)
</code></pre>

<p>and this:</p>

<pre><code>TRAJECTORY:
  This trajectory is based on JPL solution #7, a fit to 269 ground-based 
  optical astrometric measurements spanning 2018 Feb 8.2 to 13.4.

  Trajectory name                       Start (TDB)          Stop (TDB)
  --------------------------------   -----------------   -----------------
  tesla_s7                           2018-Feb-07 03:00   2048-Jan-01 00:00
</code></pre>

<observational-astronomy><asteroids><astrometry>
Where might astrometric observations of the Roadster spacecraft be catalogued?
uhoh
# Where might astrometric observations of the Roadster spacecraft be catalogued?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-16)

above: (see small red lines near center of image) Tesla Roadster. 18 Feb. 2018, 11:28 UT. The image above comes from the average of ten, 300-seconds exposures, remotely taken with the 16”-f/3.75 robotic unit (“Pearl”) of Tenagra Observatories in Arizona. The Tesla Roadster is marked with two red lines. At the imaging time, the car was about 3.5 millions of km from the Earth, that is 9 lunar distances. The object was at mag. 21.0. Image by Gianluca Masi (The Virtual Telescope Project) and Michael Schwartz (Tenagra Observatories, Ltd). From Virtual Telescope Project.
below: Zoomed in and cropped showing Roadster's image.


This excellent answer from @MikeG shows exactly how to find a list of observations for a minor planet. But I'd like to ask about a list of observations of an artificial object.
Currently the NASA JPL's Horizons site is also providing predicted trajectory of an unusual spacecraft which is referred to as Roadster. It is the cherry-red Tesla Roadster attached to a roughly 3.6 x 8 meter white rocket body in heliocentric orbit, and it has been tracked by many different observatories because of its unique circumstances. (some GIFs in this answer) Roadster's 4.6 minute rotational period was also recently reported.
Currently Horizons is reporting solution #7. They have been updating their solutions regularly as new observations are made and reported because as Roadster recedes from Earth it is rapidly dimming and will soon pass magnitude +20, so each new solution helps for the reacquisition of the object as it dims.

This trajectory is based on JPL solution #7, a fit to 269 ground-based optical astrometric measurements spanning 2018 Feb 8.2 to 13.4.

Would these observations still be catalogued in an astronomical database of observations? Since it's not a natural minor planet, it seems the Minor Planet Center would not be hosting this information, but it seems it should still be made available to astronomers for identification purposes.
But where?


The header of the Horizons output includes this:
*******************************************************************************
Revised: Feb 13, 2018          Tesla Roadster (spacecraft)             -143205
          (solution #7)

 Tesla Roadster (AKA: Starman, 2018-017A)

and this:
TRAJECTORY:
  This trajectory is based on JPL solution #7, a fit to 269 ground-based 
  optical astrometric measurements spanning 2018 Feb 8.2 to 13.4.

  Trajectory name                       Start (TDB)          Stop (TDB)
  --------------------------------   -----------------   -----------------
  tesla_s7                           2018-Feb-07 03:00   2048-Jan-01 00:00

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, asteroids, astrometry

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-17. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The Minor Planet Center inconspicuously puts this under "Distant Artificial Satellites Observation."
[DASO Circulars](https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/DASO/DASO.html) 561-566 have observations of the roadster 2018-017A.
It's also on the short list of artificial objects for which MPC can [generate ephemerides](https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/artsats/artsats.html).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Jackpot! This is wonderful, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the speedy reply.  
> **username_2**: these guys would know https://phys.org/news/2018-02-tesla-shot-space-collide-earth.html  
> **username_0**: @com.prehensible thanks for the link. Phys.org usually does an excellent job in their write-ups of current papers and preprints, and this is no exception.  
> **username_0**: Currently at 336 individual observations, 330 of which are now used in JPL solution #8.  
> **username_0**: [I've found a mention](https://space.stackexchange.com/a/29958/12102) of observations as late as 19-Mar-2018, but the last documented observation that the Circulars are showing is on 22-Feb-2018. Any idea why there is a disparity?  

---

