Jiama'erdengTianwentai/ICQ Search and Tracking Program (JIS+T)

The Jiama'erdengTianwentai/ICQ Search and Tracking Program (JIS+T) is an observing program founded in 2019 for both (a) searching for new comets (and close-approach minor planets) and (b) systematically observing known comets via CCD imaging on every clear night from the Jiama'erdeng Observatory (Jiama'erdeng Tianwentai) located on the mountain named Jiama'erdeng in Ngari, Tibet, China, using telescopes and other equipment funded by the Chinese company Tencent. Our telescopes at Jiama'erdeng are situated about 5100 m (16700 feet) above sea level, making this likely the highest optical astronomical observatory in the world that is currently in regular use; however, it also means that infrastructure logistics are often rather fragile, due to the remoteness of the observatory (as was the case during the worldwide pandemic in 2020-2022). The center photo in the banner above depicts the night sky over the Jiama'erdeng Observatory, with the neighboring domes of the National Astronomical Observatory of China visible at bottom.

The JIST program is a joint collaboration between the Jiama'erdeng Observatory (directed by Tao Chen in China) and the ICQ/Cometary Science Center (CSC) team (directed by Daniel W. E. Green). Chen is CEO of Fingertip Astronomical Technology Co., Ltd., in Beijing. Green is also Director of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT). The ICQ, CSC, and the CBAT receive generous support for computer equipment from the Tamkin Foundation.

[From 2019 to 2021, this observing program was known as the BeimianTianwentai/ICQ Search and Tracking Program (or BIST/BIS+T). The name was changed in 2021 July to reflect the renaming of the observatory station that houses most of the program's telescopes, during a long hiatus in the observing program due to the COVID-19 pandemic in China, which essentially shut down operations at Jiama'erdeng for most of 2020-2022.]

Instrumentation and software pipelines are being installed and developed, and the first BIST observations of comets were obtained in April 2019 -- soon to be posted here (astrometry submitted to the Minor Planet Center for observatory codes N55 and N56). Further details will be given here in the near future.