When Stuart ( 2003) revised the magnitude for spotting NEOs comets, over 1KM etc from H =18 to H 17.75 ... did this increase , decrease, or did the population of NEOs stay the same.
and why ???
Me personally ..I think the number of NEOs over 1 KM has decreased ..as it is now easier to spot the larger NEOs with the revised magnitude calibration.....
But would appreciate input from others :-)
Cheers
The abundance or population of Near Earth Objects in the solar system, that are greater than 1 km in size, is independent of our ability to see them. (The change from 18 to 17.75 for the detection threshold visual magnitude will make then harder to see).
Drwls..Thanks
To determine whether the population of NEOs (Near-Earth Objects) over 1 KM increased, decreased, or stayed the same after Stuart revised the magnitude for spotting them from H = 18 to H = 17.75, we need to understand how magnitudes work.
Magnitude is a measure of brightness for celestial objects. The lower the magnitude, the brighter the object. When it comes to NEOs, a higher magnitude (such as H = 18) indicates a dimmer object and is harder to detect.
So, when Stuart revised the magnitude threshold to H = 17.75, he effectively lowered the brightness threshold for detecting NEOs. This means that NEOs with a magnitude brighter than H = 17.75 would now be detectable, whereas they were not detectable under the previous threshold of H = 18.
Based on this understanding, we can conclude that Stuart's revision likely increased the number of NEOs that are now detectable. By lowering the threshold, more NEOs over 1 KM in size would fall within the detectable range.
Therefore, the population of NEOs over 1 KM most likely increased after Stuart's revision. It became easier to spot larger NEOs that were previously not detectable under the old magnitude calibration.
It's important to note that this conclusion assumes that there was no significant change in the actual number of NEOs present in the studied period and that the only difference is the revised magnitude threshold for detection.