CCD astrometric observations of 2017 VR12,Camillo and Midas

Abstract

We have observed three near-Earth objects(NEOs), 2017VR12, Camillo, and Midas during the year 2018. The observations were made by the 1-m telescope of Yunnan Observatory over 2 nights. Their precise astrometric positions are derived from 989 CCD observations. The theoretical positions of asteroids are retrieved from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Horizons System and Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE). The positions of three asteroids are measured with respect to the stars in Gaia DR2 star catalogue. For 2017 VR12, the mean (O-C) of right ascension and declination are -0.090$^{''}$ and -0.623$^{''}$ based on the ephemeris of published JPL, but the mean (O-C) are 3.122$^{''}$ and -0.636$^{''}$ based on the ephemeris of published IMCCE. The great difference in declination could be explained by several factors. (1)The degenerated CCD images caused by the high apparent motion speed of the object leads to the reduction of positioning accuracy. (2)The poor timing system may bring the system error, especially in the high speed direction. (3)The asteroid may be perturbed by the earth when it approaches the earth too closely. The astrometric results show that the centroid centring method can reduce the dispersion of the non-Gaussian images compared with the PSF model method. For Camillo and Midas, the astrometric results are consistent based on two ephemerides. High-precision timing system, some astronomical effects and geometric distortion of CCD images should be carefully considered in the future works.