Automated asteroid detection and tracking at the Stephen F. Austin State University observatory

Undiscovered asteroids and those with not well described orbits pose a constant threat to our world. Currently, asteroid detection is primarily carried out by amateur astronomers with small to medium sized (8''-16'') optical instruments. Most observatories devote their large optical instruments to other areas of astronomy research, thus leaving a large section of dim asteroids undetected. We present a plan and progress report for upgrading the 41'' telescope at the Stephen F. Austin State University observatory to automatically scan sections of the sky for asteroids in an attempt to better characterize the orbits of known asteroids and discover new ones.