The Japan Spaceguard Association (JSGA) is carrying out several asteroid detection projects, both independently and in association with external organizations. There are currently three such projects ongoing as follows;

Spaceguard Detective Agency - Tracking down the asteroids

This is JSGA's own program and it is our very first program following the success of the "International Asteroid Detection Project".

International Asteroid Detection Project

This project was carried out in Japan in association with the Yomiuri Shimbun and the British Council, Japan. The project started in February 2001 and the results were evaluated at the end of March 2001.

International Schools' Observatory (ISO)

This web-based observatory (ISO) is giving schools round the world access to professional robotic telescopes provided by Liverpool John Moores University and observational data for asteroids provided by the Japan Spaceguard Association. The ISO project is supported by the British Council.

The ISO Observatory provides the opportunity for young people to work together on collaborative science projects, make new friends and experience the excitement of science observation and discovery.

You do not need to worry about asteroid detection. You do not even need to have access to a telescope. You have this software specially developed by the Japan Spaceguard Association for detecting asteroids. It is called "Asteroid Catcher B-612" (AstCat in abbreviation).

We will also provide you with the night sky data obtained by the Bisei Spaceguard Center located in the south west of Japan, either on a CD-ROM, or via Internet. Anybody who has a PC connected to the Internet can join the project for detecting asteroids.

You do not need to be highly skilled in detection work. All you need is to follow this manual carefully and with a little bit of patience. This is because finding asteroids requires you to look at successive images carefully one by one. We do hope, however, that you will find it worth your time.

NB: The Bisei Spaceguard Center (BSGC) was constructed by the Japan Space Forum (JSF) with the funds provided by the former Science and Technology Agency (STA) of the Japanese Government and is operated by the funds of the National Space and Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) . The daily observations in BSGC are carried out by the Japan Spaceguard Association (JSGA).

This is image character of asteroids "Syo-chan".