Criteria for Accepting or Rejecting Identifications¶

Submissions Rejected Without Orbit Fitting¶

ITF-to-ITF submissions¶

Note

The criteria below do not apply to NEOCP objects.

The MPC will reject ITF-to-ITF identifications without performing any orbit fitting if any of the following is true:

The submission format is incorrect. See the submission format description.
The submitted tracklets cover less than 3 distinct nights.
The arc length covered by the tracklets is less than 3 days.
The number of nights is 3 and the arc length is larger than 15 days.
You are trying to submit a two apparition linkage when the second apparition is represented only by a single tracklet regardless of the number of tracklets in the first apparition.
The arc starts and ends with a single detection tracklet.

ITF-to-DES submissions¶

The MPC will reject ITF-to-DES identifications without performing any orbit fitting if any of the following is true:

The submission format is incorrect. See the submission format description.
You are trying to extend the orbit of a one-apparition non-NEO to a two-apparitions non-NEO using only one single tracklet over one night (arc length < 0.75 days). Please note that this criteria does not apply to NEOs. See the Recovery Page for further explanation.

DES-to-DES submissions¶

The MPC will reject DES-to-DES identifications without performing any orbit fitting if any of the following is true:

The submission format is incorrect. See the submission format description.
You are attempting to link together two only one-opposition distant objects (q>5.5).

Submissions Rejected With Orbit Fitting¶

ITF-to-ITF submissions¶

Note

The criteria below do not apply to NEOCP objects.

The MPC will reject certain identifications after performing an orbit fit if any of the following is true:

If the tracklets cover exactly 3 nights, have an arc length < 15 days and RMS > 0.25" and orbit quality is not sufficient (defined below).
If the tracklets cover more than 3 nights, have an arc length < 10 days and RMS > 0.25" and orbit quality is not sufficient (defined below).
The orbit fit did not converge.

Minimum orbit quality definition for 3-nighters: Covariance requirements on the converged orbit: The 1-sigma range for the orbital elements must satisfy the following: semimajor-axis < 0.05 AU, perihelion distance < 0.05 AU, inclination < 0.5 deg, eccentricity < 0.05; and the eccentricity of the orbit must be < 0.5.

MPC accepts multi-opposition ITF-to-ITF submissions when:

for 2-opposition orbits, one apparition must have at least 3 nights, the other apparition at least two nights; or
for 3-opposition and 4-opposition orbits, at least one apparition must have at least 3 nights;
for 5 or more oppositions, at least one apparition must have at least 3 nights, or at least two apparitions must have two nights each.

New apparitions are counted by gaps between subsequent nights being longer than 237 days.

ITF-to-DES submissions¶

The MPC will reject certain identifications after performing an orbit fit if any of the following is true:

The orbit fit did not converge.

DES-to-DES submissions¶

The MPC will reject certain identifications after performing an orbit fit if any of the following is true:

The orbit fit did not converge.