Dr. McAlister said the first targets would be the more than 250 binary stars the university's astronomers have already identified using telescopes at other observatories in Arizona and Chile.

By February 2011, astronomers have identified a mere 36 asteroids in retrograde orbits.

But astronomers using ground-based telescopes have already identified more than half a dozen dim objects that are likely brown dwarf candidates.

By comparing pictures of M105 through different light filters, the two astronomers identified and measured the velocities of certain stars out toward the visible edge of the galaxy.

These data allow astronomers to reconstruct the stars' trajectory and so identify the site of their birth.

By breaking down the spectrum of light into its component elements and charting the spikes and dips on a graph, astronomers can usually identify and describe an object within minutes.

From ACS high-resolution images, complemented by the extensive ground-based follow-up observations, astronomers have identified 67 strong gravitationally lensed galaxies.

If the origin and nature and implications of quasars remain tantalizingly unexplained, at least astronomers can now identify their heyday.

Early European astronomers such as Tycho Brahe identified new stars in the night sky (later termed novae), suggesting that the heavens were not immutable.

Aided by historical records, modern astronomers have identified what remains of the 1006 supernova today - a faint shell of gas about 7,000 light-years away.