Shame on those amateurs building a space probe!;-) The data is there. Amateurs are making use of an asset that probably costs far more than has been spent to date on ground based searches. Why exactly aren't the professionals doing the same? Probably because they aren't paid to. In addition, searching for NEC comets this way also has little value in disaster prevention due to the short notice such discoveries would give.

I do agree however that we should have an automated search for the reasons you mentioned. It just irks me to see you put down amateurs trying to make up for the funding void. They have made and are likely to continue to make valuable contributions until much more money is spent to fund better search and especially follow-up programs. This particular post doesn't dismiss them as useless as past ones have so I apologize in advance if you have moderated your disrespect for them.

Regards,
Mark

PS found an interesting quote from Peiser the other day:

"MODERATOR'S NOTE: Ed Grondine's date is pure speculation and not based on
any hard evidence. I understand that Pete Schultz (Brown University) is
currently on a new field study in Argentina, trying to refine the dating of
the Rio Cuarto impact which is presently thought to have occurred during the
last 5,000-10,000 years. BJP"