NEO and imminent impactor discoveries from Hungary: recent results and lessons learnt

TL;DR

This paper reports recent discoveries of imminent impactors by Hungarian observatories, detailing their observational approach, methodology, and plans to enhance detection sensitivity and coverage.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed methodology and observational strategy for detecting meter-sized impactors from Hungary, highlighting recent discoveries and future improvements.

Findings

Discovered three imminent impactors in 2022-2024

Achieved about 1% of all NEO discoveries from the observatory

Outlined upgraded instrumentation and improved observational strategies

Abstract

2022 EB5, 2023 CX1 and 2024 BX1: these are the three recent imminent impactor discoveries from the Piszk\'estet\H{o} Mountain Station of the Konkoly Observatory. They make up about one percent of all NEO discoveries from our observatory and here we provide a detailed description of our approach and methodology that led to this noticeable observational sensitivity to these meter-sized impactors. After outlining the historical background of astronomical discoveries from Hungary, we introduce our recently upgraded survey instrumentation and outline the observational strategy and its implementation. We highlight the importance of strong feedback between analysis and ongoing data collection, maximizing the value of immediate follow-up. Finally, we discuss plans for moving forward to increase the sensitivity and the temporal coverage of our survey.