ITF Search feature of NEOTK (Beta feature)

Updated 2/15/19

Please watch this video tutorial on the new features of the ITF search: VIDEO TUTORIAL

Place the "fo.exe" file provided with NEOTK into your find_o64 directory.

This write-up will cover how to use the ITF search feature of NEOTK. Tools => Search Tracklets

This is a beta feature, and may contain bugs.

1. Download the isolated tracklets file (itf.txt) or the Unnumbered minor planets (UnnOb.txt) from the MPC here: MPC Site

2. Pick an asteroid with a relatively short arc. Ive found rocks with an arc over 10 days do well.

3. Download it's observations from MPC or wherever, and load them up with findorb.

4. Use find orb to generate an ephemeris file with these exact settings. Enable all Perturbers -> Autosolve -> Generate Ephemeris. It is important to only go BACK in time from some date. You can start from any date, but always set the stepsize to -1.
(click to enlarge)

5. After you have generated the object-ephem.txt file, and have downloaded the MPC's itf.txt or UnnNum.txt file, you are ready to start. (Do not modify this file in any way).
- NOTE: A strategy that works well for short arc asteroids is to look for recent observations that were missed, within the months before the first published observations.
If you can find them there, the orbit solve will become better, helping you run more accurate ephemeris further into the past looking for more lost observations.

6. Launch NEOTK and choose Tools => Search Tracklets

7. In the SELECT ITF /UNN: field, browse and select the itf.txt or UnnNum.txt file. In the SELEECT EPHEM: field, browse and select the past ephemeris file you generated in FindOrb. Click TRIM ITF

8. It will then trim the very large itf.txt / UnnNum.txt file down to a smaller file called "obs-trimmed.txt" and load this file's path into the TRIMMED ITF: field.

9. For better formatted output, enter the packed designation of the objects you're trying to recover observations from. This will make the copy / paste faster while checking observations in FindOrb.

10. Click on FILTER ITF / UNN to further filter out possible candidates from the itf-trimmed file. This file will be in the same directory and called obs-filtered.txt

11. The obs-filtered.txt file will contain all possible candidates found that *could* be the asteroid. You'll now have to run them against the asteroid's known measurements in FindOrb to look for a match.

12. If you find a match, make sure you submit it to the MPC in the correct format: MPC ITF Match Format

TIP: If you find a match, look inside of the obs-filtered.txt file for the match, and look at the LOV value at the bottom of the file. Other objects that match will have a very similar LOV value. If you know the LOV value, you can enter it in the LOV field with a + / - setting (EX. -1.9 and 0.2) and click FILTER ITF/ UNN again. This will filter the file even further. Check each object carefully to ensure it is a match before submitting to the MPC.

13. If you format your final (matched) obs exactly as shown, with one empty line between each set after using the packed designation above to generate the obs, you can use ITF Search to generate the final MPC report. Make sure you have generated the orbit in FindOrb. Enter the packed designation you are matching isolated tracks to, select your file with the final matched obs formatted as shown, and select the FindOrb directory. You can then auto generate the report to send to the MPC with "BUILD REPORT".

     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.17411721 11 17.98 +02 58 56.7          20.0 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.18050021 11 17.92 +02 58 46.7          20.4 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.20969721 11 17.87 +02 57 59.1          20.7 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.23182421 11 17.86 +02 57 24.0                      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.11506121 11 19.39 +02 33 46.2          20.2 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.12528921 11 19.33 +02 33 29.7          20.1 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.13040021 11 19.34 +02 33 21.2          21.0 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.15521121 11 19.33 +02 32 42.1          20.4 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.17967 21 11 19.03 +02 32 02.6          20.4 V      W34
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.20244 21 11 19.01 +02 31 26.3          20.2 V      W34
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.11659021 11 22.90 +02 07 10.8          20.2 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.12181721 11 22.87 +02 07 02.6          20.2 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.12713021 11 22.84 +02 06 54.3          20.6 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.13317321 11 22.90 +02 06 45.1                      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 23.12423621 11 47.36 +00 48 50.9          20.4 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 23.13060721 11 47.41 +00 48 40.9          20.6 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 23.13717821 11 47.52 +00 48 30.6          20.5 G      V03
 
     P10tmlB : Original Desig from ITF
     K17S09L* C2016 03 06.26053 08 17 09.701-04 55 03.40         21.6 wL     F51
     K17S09L  C2016 03 06.27310 08 17 09.496-04 54 48.46         21.6 wL     F51
     K17S09L  C2016 03 06.28565 08 17 09.285-04 54 33.63         21.5 wL     F51
     K17S09L  C2016 03 06.29823 08 17 09.089-04 54 18.49         21.6 wL     F51
 
     P10tBDm : Original Desig from ITF
     K17S09L* C2016 03 10.24345 08 16 31.793-03 37 03.61         21.5 wL     F51
     K17S09L  C2016 03 10.25578 08 16 31.693-03 36 49.19         21.6 wL     F51
     K17S09L  C2016 03 10.26810 08 16 31.600-03 36 35.10         21.5 wL     F51
 
     SG9DB48 : Original Desig from ITF
     K17S09L* C2011 04 13.23392 13 31 31.40 +06 47 37.2          21.7 Vr     G96
     K17S09L  C2011 04 13.24076 13 31 30.97 +06 47 45.7          20.9 Vr     G96
     K17S09L  C2011 04 13.24764 13 31 30.61 +06 47 53.3          21.1 Vr     G96
     K17S09L  C2011 04 13.25444 13 31 30.21 +06 48 01.7          21.2 Vr     G96

Formatted final report example:

K17S09L
 
K17S09L 18.51  0.15 K179N 343.49578  178.27306  181.41851   23.15570  0.0844618  0.36399332   1.9427061    FO 171012    32   1 2009-2017 0.32 M-N 00  Find_Orb   0000 2017 SL9                    20170923
 
     9SB4184* C2009 09 26.23169 23 54 09.43 -00 17 23.7          19.8 Vr     G96
     9SB4184  C2009 09 26.23790 23 54 09.14 -00 17 34.6          19.5 Vr     G96
     9SB4184  C2009 09 26.24406 23 54 08.89 -00 17 45.8          19.3 Vr     G96
     9SB4184  C2009 09 26.25015 23 54 08.64 -00 17 56.5          19.5 Vr     G96
     SG9DB48* C2011 04 13.23392 13 31 31.40 +06 47 37.2          21.7 Vr     G96
     SG9DB48  C2011 04 13.24076 13 31 30.97 +06 47 45.7          20.9 Vr     G96
     SG9DB48  C2011 04 13.24764 13 31 30.61 +06 47 53.3          21.1 Vr     G96
     SG9DB48  C2011 04 13.25444 13 31 30.21 +06 48 01.7          21.2 Vr     G96
     P10tmlB* C2016 03 06.26053 08 17 09.701-04 55 03.40         21.6 wL     F51
     P10tmlB  C2016 03 06.27310 08 17 09.496-04 54 48.46         21.6 wL     F51
     P10tmlB  C2016 03 06.28565 08 17 09.285-04 54 33.63         21.5 wL     F51
     P10tmlB  C2016 03 06.29823 08 17 09.089-04 54 18.49         21.6 wL     F51
     P10tBDm* C2016 03 10.24345 08 16 31.793-03 37 03.61         21.5 wL     F51
     P10tBDm  C2016 03 10.25578 08 16 31.693-03 36 49.19         21.6 wL     F51
     P10tBDm  C2016 03 10.26810 08 16 31.600-03 36 35.10         21.5 wL     F51
     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.17411721 11 17.98 +02 58 56.7          20.0 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.18050021 11 17.92 +02 58 46.7          20.4 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.20969721 11 17.87 +02 57 59.1          20.7 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 18.23182421 11 17.86 +02 57 24.0                      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.11506121 11 19.39 +02 33 46.2          20.2 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.12528921 11 19.33 +02 33 29.7          20.1 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.13040021 11 19.34 +02 33 21.2          21.0 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.15521121 11 19.33 +02 32 42.1          20.4 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.17967 21 11 19.03 +02 32 02.6          20.4 V      W34
     K17S09L KC2017 09 19.20244 21 11 19.01 +02 31 26.3          20.2 V      W34
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.11659021 11 22.90 +02 07 10.8          20.2 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.12181721 11 22.87 +02 07 02.6          20.2 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.12713021 11 22.84 +02 06 54.3          20.6 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 20.13317321 11 22.90 +02 06 45.1                      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 23.12423621 11 47.36 +00 48 50.9          20.4 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 23.13060721 11 47.41 +00 48 40.9          20.6 G      V03
     K17S09L KC2017 09 23.13717821 11 47.52 +00 48 30.6          20.5 G      V03
 
090926 G96  .03+  .05-    160306 F51  .15+  .31+    170919 V03  .01+  .28+ 
090926 G96  .27-  .14+    160310 F51  .01-  .07-    170919 W34  .15-  .38- 
090926 G96  .00   .05-    160310 F51  .09-  .06+    170919 W34  .27-  .27- 
090926 G96  .23+  .13+    160310 F51  .05-  .14-    170920 V03  .72+  .31- 
110413 G96  .03-  .19-    170918 V03  .23-  .59+    170920 V03  .13+  .22- 
110413 G96  .44-  .30+    170918 V03  .83-  .87+    170920 V03  .46-  .10- 
110413 G96  .24+  .15-    170918 V03  .22-  .28+    170920 V03  .29+  .27+ 
110413 G96  .26+  .29+    170918 V03  .63+  .80+    170923 V03  .15-  .02+ 
160306 F51  .01-  .12+    170919 V03  .52+  .23+    170923 V03  .23-  .18- 
160306 F51  .02+  .15+    170919 V03  .30-  .07+    170923 V03  .56+  .37- 
160306 F51  .03-  .09+    170919 V03  .10-  .26-    
 
9SB4184 (K17S09L           G96 20090926
SG9DB48 (K17S09L           G96 20110413
P10tmlB (K17S09L           F51 20160306
P10tBDm (K17S09L           F51 20160310
 
----------

Enjoy!