TheNear-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) is a web service listing recently-submitted observations of objects that may benear-Earth objects (NEOs). It is a service of theMinor Planet Center (MPC), which is the official international archive forastrometric observations ofminor planets.[1] The NEOCP was established by the MPC on theWorld Wide Web in March 1996.[2][3]
Astrometric observations of new NEO candidates are submitted by observers either throughemail orcURL, after which they are placed in the NEOCP for a period of time until they are confirmed to be a new object, confirmed to be an already-known object, or not confirmed with sufficient follow-up observations.[4] If the object is confirmed as a new NEO, it is given aprovisional designation and its observations will be immediately published in aMinor Planet Electronic Circular (MPEC). If the object is a recovery of an already-designated NEO on a newopposition, it will also be immediately published in an MPEC. Otherwise, if the object is confirmed as a minor planet that is not a NEO, it will be published in a Daily Orbit Update MPEC on the following day.[4] Any objects that are not confirmed due to an insufficientobservation arc or afalse-positive detection will have its observations archived in the MPC'sIsolated Tracklet File of unconfirmed minor planet candidates.[5][6][7]
This tool is updated throughout the day to facilitate follow-up observations as quickly as possible before an object islost and no longer observable.[1]
A number of other services make use of the NEOCP and further process the data to make independent predictions of the likelihood of an object being an NEO and also of the likely risk of Earth impact, some of these are listed below.