This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was generated from data taken in April of 2010 by the Arecibo Radar Telescope in Puerto Rico. Image credit: NASA/Cornell/Arecibo
It’s not unusual to have small asteroids pass closer to the Earth than the moon’s distance of 240,000 miles. Matter of fact, the house-sized 2011 UX255 buzzed only 96,000 miles from our planet last Friday and little 2011 MD gave us a close shave at just 7,500 miles on June 27. Next up is 2005 YU55. This one’s bigger than most at 1,300 feet or 400 meters in diameter, and will jitterbug across the evening sky next Tuesday night November 8 at a distance of 205,000 miles or about 4/5 the way to the moon. The orbit of the asteroid makes it a regular in the neighborhood, but this is the closest it’s come in the past 200 years.
As with the earlier asteroids, 2005 YU55 poses no threat to Earth now and for at least the next 100 years. Astronomers have used radar to refine its orbit with great precision so there’s no cause for concern. Nor will the space rock’s gravitational pull have any detectable effects on Earth. But if our featured asteroid did strike the planet, it would make a good mess of things, since even a relatively small object has tremendous energy due to its cosmic velocity of many thousands of miles per hour. It’s estimated that 2005 YU55 would tear into the planet with the equivalent explosive power of 60 hydrogen bombs.
The asteroid 2005 YU55 moves closer to our planet each day. Today it's 5.1 million miles away. Beware! Objects appear closer than they really are. Credit: NASA
2005 YU55 is darker than a charcoal briquette, nearly spherical and makes one spin on its axis about every 18 hours. NASA scientists will be tracking it with its 230-foot Deep Space Network radio telescope at Goldstone, California beginning this Friday the 4th. Tracking will continue at Goldstone for at least four hours each day from Nov. 6 through Nov. 10. Radar observations from the Arecibo Planetary Radar Facility in Puerto Rico will begin on Nov. 8, the same day the asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth.
Scientists are hoping to use the flyby as an ideal opportunity to map the asteroid’s surface by pinging it with radio waves and then collecting the returned signals. Analysis of the data will help them build a map showing details as small as 7 feet across as well as provide information about the object’s shape, size and composition. The pictures are reminiscent of sonograms and employ a similar echo-sensing technology. The more we learn about near-Earth approaching asteroids like 2005 YU55, the better equipped we’ll be to understand and plan for any future asteroids that might pass too close for comfort.
The green box in this wide view of the sky the night of Nov. 8 shows the portion of sky the asteroid will zip through between the hours of 8 and 9 p.m. Central Standard Time. Center your telescope on 13 and 9 Pegasi, then use the detailed charts below to star-step to the asteroid. Maps created with Stellarium
To spot this speedy space rock next Tuesday evening, you’re going to need a telescope. At brightest, it will shine at magnitude 11.2 or five levels below what the naked eye can see. Seasoned observers can track it in a scope as small as 3-inches, but most will need a 6-inch or larger instrument simply because a bright gibbous moon will be in the same region of sky. Moonlight has this bad habit of hiding fainter stars. You’ll also need a good star map and stick-to-itiveness, because 2005 YU55 will be traveling up to 7 arc seconds per second. That translates to one full moon diameter (one-half degree) in just under five minutes. Zippy!
Detailed view showing the asteroid's path every 10 minutes from 8-8:30 p.m. CST through the stars of Pegasus beginning just south of 9 and 13 Pegasi (top). Stars are shown to 12th magnitude. North is up and east to the left. Many telescopes invert the view, so remember to flip the map upside down if you're using a reflector.
Once found, the asteroid will appear at medium and high magnifications to move continuously like a faint satellite. I’ve watched a few close asteroid approaches and it’s very exciting to see a cosmic object move so rapidly. As you gaze through into the eyepiece, it dawns on you that you’re looking at a flying rock the size of a battleship a “hair’s breadth” from the home planet. Suddenly those twinkly little lights in the solar system feel much more real.
The asteroid is best seen from the U.S., where it will fly through the constellations Delphinus and Pegasus high in the southern sky from the time of closest approach through the remainder of the night. European observers can catch it early on in the constellations Serpens and Aquila, but it will be farther away and fainter with a magnitude between 13 and 14. Closest approach to Earth occurs around 5:30 p.m. CST Tuesday Nov. 8. That’s 12:30 a.m. Nov. 9 across most of central Europe, where the asteroid will still be visible but located low in the western sky.
This second map shows the asteroid's flight between 8:30 and 9 p.m. CST. Remember to add one hour for EST, subtract one hour for MST and two hours for PST. The path in both maps is drawn for Kansas City and the central U.S.
The very best map I’ve seen for tracking the space rock is on page 53 of the November 2011 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine. Because 2005 YU55 will be so close, it takes a slightly different track across the sky depending on where you live, similar to holding your index finger at arm’s length and watching it shift back and forth as you open and close either eye. The Sky and Telescope map includes a little map of the U.S. placed on the asteroid’s path that helps compensate for this shifting effect called parallax. If you don’t have access to the magazine, you can use the maps I created, which are based on the same information. UPDATE: Online version of the Sky and Telescope chart is now up.
The position of the moon in relation to the Pleiades cluster is shown from four widely separated places on Earth. Objects close to the Earth shift position against the distant background stars depending on your location. Credit: Tom Ruen
Positions are shown at 10-minute intervals – I did say it was moving fast – for Kansas City and central regions of the country. If you live in the far southern U.S., the asteroid’s path will lie almost 1/4 degree above (north of) the line and 1/4 degree below (south of) the line if you live along the northern border. And if you’re on the West Coast, the asteroid will be about 3 minutes ahead of the times shown. East Coasters will see it 2 minutes behind those times. Let’s do an example.
Someone living near New York City planning to see 2005 YU55 at 9 p.m. local time should look for it 2 minutes shy of the 8:00 p.m. map position. An observer in San Francisco looking at 6 p.m. local time would point their scope 3 minutes past the 8:00 p.m. mark.
If you have sky charting software like MegaStar, SkyOrb, SkyMap, Redshift, Guide and others, you can plot your own site-specific maps of the asteroid’s path by opening up your asteroid menu and adding 2005 YU55 and its orbital elements. Here are the latest elements from the JPL Horizons website:
* Epoch: 2011 November 13
* Mean anomaly (M) = 50.3717704
* Semi-major axis (a) = 1.1574416520
* Eccentricity (e) = .430606239
* Argument of perihelion = 273.574761
* Longitude ascending node = 35.9342364
* Inclination (i) = .34122817
* Equinox 2000
* H = 21.92, G=0.15
The good thing is that 2005 YU55 is fairly bright and will remain near it maximum brightness for much of the night. Even if you don’t compensate for parallax, just center your scope on one of the times shown and wait and watch. If you examine the field of view carefully, you should notice that one of the “stars” is slowly moving to the east after a minute or two. Congratulations – you’ve just found the asteroid! Now stay on its tail and enjoy the ride.
Great article Bob I’m going to try my best to spot it although I am no where near as experienced as you. Just one thing though the 8th Is Tuesday not Monday
Thanks Debra and thanks for noticing it was Tuesday. My brain must have gaggled.
Bob thanks for the article but im a lil confused the astroid will take from 5pm to 9pm to pass earth? Or did I misunderstand? Someone at my husbands job said they heard it could hit the moon? Is that possible?
Milayla,
The asteroid will definitely not hit the moon. It takes some hours to pass Earth as it approaches our planet, comes closest Nov. 8 and then recedes into the distance. It’s closest around 5:30 p.m. CST and then slowly distances itself from our planet. The reason the U.S. has such a great view is that the sky gets dark around 6 p.m., which is very close to the time of closest approach.
Ok soo around 8/9:00 it passes completly? I just read from different sites that it will pass on the 8th and the 9th so instead of going on any other site I came to you lol thanks bob
Milayla,
Those different times all depend on your time zone. In Europe, closest approach happens around local midnight-1 a.m. of the 9th, while here in the mainland U.S. that time corresponds to early evening Nov. 8. In Hawaii, closest approach is at 1:30 in the afternoon on the 8th. It remains in the sky all night for the U.S. growing slowly farther away with each passing hour. The next evening – the 9th – the asteroid will be fainter at magnitude 12.7 but still well placed for viewing over both the U.S. and Europe. It will have moved into northern Pisces by that time.
Hi Bob, what if it does hot the earth? would it wipe us out….Are people sure that it wont? and is it coming closer to earth then elenin did?
Bobbi,
First, it’s important to remember it won’t hit the Earth. There is zero chance. As I wrote, if it did hit, the force would be equivalent to many hydrogen bombs, so there would be a large crater and much damage depending exactly on where it would land — big city, ocean, poles?? Yes, it will be much closer to Earth than Comet Elenin, but just like the comet, it’s too tiny to cause any measurable effects on our much, much bigger planet.
Wow a hydrogen bomb? That sound menacing! Sooooo. Bob is it Elenin all over again for you? Because if you ask me all the nonsence on the enternet and all the conspiracies are comets and astroids hitting the earth and moon. Ironically speaking of course. What i mean by that is it does alot of damage mentaly! Dont you agree Bob?
David,
No, not quite as bad as Elenin thankfully.
Hey bob sorry to bother you but i just read that the asteroid is suppose to be be closest at 3:28 pm pst time what does that mean? i thought its closest at like 8/9 pm can u pls explain Im getting nervous!! Pls help
Milayla,
3:28 PST is the same as the time I described in the blog. Remember, I said it would be closest around 5:30 p.m. CST? Those times are the same. The charts are drawn for 8-9 p.m. CST because that’s a convenient time across the country for viewing the asteroid in a dark sky whether you’re in California, Florida, the Midwest or the East Coast. If I’d drawn the chart for 5:30 p.m. CST, that would be 3:30 p.m. in the Western Time Zone and the sun would still be up.
Ohhh ok I think I got it soo it will be closest at 5:30 pm but will still be visable around 8/9 pm right I live in ny so its closest 6:30 my time then? My son wants to see it! Is it possible from where we are at in upstate Ny?
Milayla,
Yes, it hangs around for a night or two or three. And yes, it’s closest at 6:30 your time, but will remain bright through the evening. Remember, you’ll need a map to see it, and my maps (and Sky and Telescope’s map) only show it from 9 – 10 p.m. your time. If you want to see the asteroid outside those times, you’ll have to create your own map using sky charting software and the orbital elements I listed in the blog.
Oohhh okay why does it take so long to pass? Or its just closet at that time the rest of the time is finishing going thru? And do all comets do this when they pass? And thanks me and my son are gonna try to find it!
Milayla,
It takes a while to pass the Earth because it’s 200,000 miles away and traveling at a finite speed. Also, after it passes, it remains in view for a few nights — while fading all the time — because the direction the asteroid’s traveling happens to be traveling is toward the direction of the constellation Pisces, which is ideally placed for viewing during November evenings.
I think I finally got it lol so I gather all its closest at 6:30 and spends the rest of the time leaving right? And does all astroids take that long? Sorry for all the questions but I rather ask you than google and get a bunch or wrong info soo thanks bob
Milayla,
Yes, you’re right about “6:30 and then I gotta go” regarding 2005 YU55. Each Earth-approaching asteroid is different. Some are so small they’re too faint to see in most telescopes. Some hang around for just hours before they’re too faint to see. Others fly through the sky in constellations only visible from the southern hemisphere and so on. Like snowflakes, no one is exactly like the other.
Hey Bob,
Second time on your blog, it’s Awsome! But anyway I don’t have any questions about the asteroids…but I would like to get your opinion on Pres. Obama cutting nasa funding
Thanks Jonny. I don’t know all the details but the cuts weren’t as serious as they could have been. Some of the money came from savings generated by phasing out the shuttles. In any case, I don’t like seeing NASA’s budget cut because the agency provides so much to humanity in terms of research, knowledge, jobs, pin-offs, etc.
Hi Bob, so Im like kinda ‘duhh’ about the whole star constellations & their locations, I only know where to look for the big dipper, in NM which way should I look? I sure wish I had a telescope, but soon Im going to invest in one…
Lisha,
If you don’t have a telescope, unfortunately you won’t be able to see the asteroid.
Oh man so its that far? What about binoculors?
Milayla,
Sorry, but binoculars won’t do either. A small telescope is what you need.
I would love it if someone would coordinate two videos of this pass, one from the North and one from the South, so that a stereoscopic video could be put together by combining them. It would give a different perspective on close fly-bys like this one.
Geoff,
That is a fantastic idea! Let’s hope someone gives it a try.
What kind of telescope do you recommend??
Lisha,
I’d recommend a 6-inch reflecting telescope or larger. Orion Telescopes has many for sale.
Great article astroBob… Wondering if us Canadians in Southwestern Ontario will be able to catch a glimpse of this beauty. Thanks ‘eh’
Michael,
Absolutely! You’ll need a telescope and the charts shown in the blog.
I live in Cairo Egypt. Will we be able to see YU55 from here and what time should we look for it. How long will phone communications be out-from what time to what time in the States? I’m concerned about my family there.
Hazle Cat,
You will be able to see but it will appear fainter. You’ll need to create your own chart using the orbital elements in the blog and a sky charting software program like the ones mentioned in the blog. If I find a good online charting for your region, I will post a link. Also remember that the asteroid will require a 6-inch telescope or larger to see.
Hi bob. So i live in california. What time will it be here during its.closest approach?? And what was the closest asteroid to pass earth?? Was it bigger than this one is going to be? Seems to be getting alot of attention compared to the one u said past last friday or something…
Les,
Yes, 2005 YU55 is bigger than your average litter space rocks that fly by more routinely making it more newsworthy. It will be closest to Earth about 3:30 p.m. California time. The closest asteroid to be tracked in the sky and then observed to fly by Earth actually hit the ground in Ethiopia in 2008. Called 2008 TC3, the space rock was about 12 feet across. 23 lbs. of fragments from the fall were recovered.
I live in Sacramento, CA. What time would be best for viewing? 6:30? I’d try to figure it out myself but so far i only have a quarter of high school physics. I’m trying to make it a class project so it would have to be early in the night, but after 6 so that its dark out. I’d be using a 6 in. diameter Bushnell telescope.
Christian,
6:30 p.m. your time would be perfect. That’s equal to the 8:30 p.m. time (CST) shown on the detailed maps in the blog. Your scope is the right size, so what I’d recommend is getting to know the flyby path BEFORE the flyby night if possible. That way you’ll be familiar with “the territory”.
In a 6in telescope, how much would i have to be moving it to keep the asteroid centered? I might have a lot of people taking turns on the scope.
Hi Christian,
You’ll have time It won’t be moving that fast. I’m working on a blog for later today that answers your question in more depth. Check it out http://www.astrobob.areavoices.com in a couple hours.
Mr. Astrobob Im here in Dallas Tx. Where in the sky can I see this asteroid? The only stars I know are Orion.
Hi Shane,
The maps in my “Users guide” blog show exactly where to look for it, but remember, you’ll need at least a 6-inch telescope to see and track it through the stars of Pegasus. Use the wide-angle map with the moon and Jupiter as your guides to find Pegasus.
Great information Bob,
What about the International Space Station . . . is there any danger to them and will they be participating in the observations and data gathering?
Hi Susan,
No danger to the space station since it’s 220 miles above Earth (versus 200,000 miles for the asteroid). I don’t know if they’ll be participating. NASA’s main tool for data gathering will be the Goldstone radio telescope here on the planet.
Thank you so much for this article. I’ve been looking all over the place for some advice on how to do some backyard observing. Every site I found simply explained it would go through pegasus (which takes up a good chunk of the sky) or they gave me coordinates to work with, but I don’t have a computerized telescope, just an 8 inch classic dob. This has been tremendously helpful. I look forward to Tuesday – stay away clouds!
Thank you.
I’m glad I could help Leigh Anne. If I see other additional charts online, I will post links. Good luck Tuesday night!
Bob I have a kinda dumb question but wouldnt it break up in our atmostphere if something did ever come this way? And are you gonna be watching for it tuesday?
Milayla,
Yes, some of it would definitely burn up before it got the surface, but one this size would definitely make it to the ground. Good thing it’s a very safe distance away.
Thanks for the information Astrobob
I am in central Indiana, so what time would I be able to view YU55 here, provided I can get my hands on my nephew’s telescope? My husband doesn’t believe me that this rock is out there and I would really like to prove him wrong, LOL.
Hi Kat,
Yes, you’ll see it in Indiana. I can’t remember – are you on Eastern Standard Time? If so, remember to add one hour to the times shown on the chart. If you’re in the Central time zone, you can use the times as shown.
Hello Bob
I was wondering if you think it is a coincidence that they are testing the Emergency Alert System during the same time frame YU55 is passing by? (Hopefully I have the name right) I have read a lot of people saying that but is there no such thing as a coincidence anymore? Does everything have to be more than it really is? Anyway thanks in advance!
Hi Patience,
Coincidences happen by the hundreds of thousands every day because billions of simultaneous or near-simultaneous events occur every second. For instance, I notice that every day I go to work, the sun is low in the eastern sky. Perhaps my drive to work is the is cause of the sun’s eastern appearance. I mean, it’s never in the south or west, only the east — hmmm. I also get stuck at the same stoplight almost every day on my route — is something about my car or timing causing the light to turn red nearly every time? Maybe some sort of force field? You can see I’m having fun, but I think you get my point. We place way too much stock in coincidences. A few have meaning, but much is read into most of the others, especially the doomsday variety.
As for the asteroid, if someone in the government were really worried about it, why have an alert AFTER it’s passed and receding in the distance? No, it’s just the time the agency scheduled it. I suspect the person in charge of scheduling was unaware of the flyby (and likely still is) back on June 9 when the Nov. 9 date was selected for the test. Prior to that, all the agencies involved either participated in the state-level monthly and local-level weekly tests that have been going on for a long time. Our government wants to get the whole bunch to work together as one for a national test. Sounds like a good idea for me. Maybe it will be useful someday when an asteroid really does threaten our planet. It’s not this time however.
Yes I can see you were having fun with that lol. Yeah I am not worried about it I read your blogs a lot and I figure hey if it happens what can I do? Plus I am excited for next week because a week and one day from tuesday my husband will be returning from his deployment so this asteroid cannot hit us! Ha
Great to hear about your husband’s return, Patience. Two fortuitous returns on Tuesdays. Hey, that sounds like a nice coincidence — LOL.
hi bob I have a quick question I read online about the asteroid that could possibly harm earth in 2036 do you think their is something Nasa can do to stop it? and I know on Nov 8 its passing 6:28 pm my time will it pass by quick? I mean you helped me stay calm thru Elenin and I told ya I may need ya again lol are you 100% sure everything will be fine…. Their is no way it can change right? and did nasa get any new info I read online they started watching it on the 4th have you heard anything? thanks again
Stephanie,
The chances of Apophis hitting Earth in 2036 are very remote. We should know even better from observations with radio and optical telescope when it’s relatively near Earth in 2013. As for the upcoming Tuesday flyby, sit down in a comfy chair and enjoy an ice tea. I’m 100% sure we’re safe from danger.
Thank you Bob I have had enough of this deployment! Lol yes I can’t wait!!
Ok Bob I am back with another question, I am currently living in Norfolk, Virginia. So if I walk outside will I be able to see a small dot or a huge dot or something that is the asteroid? Or to even see it will I have to have a telescope? Thanks in Advance!
Patience,
I wish the asteroid were dressed in blaze orange for everyone to see but you’ll need a telescope (6-inch or larger) and the maps I published in my blog several days ago to see it. Check out the blog later today when I have more info.
Hey Bob it’s getting nearly as bad as ELenin some of the things being said about it are totally mad. I have just read on a forum that it has apparently slowed down changed it’s trajectory and is giving off some kind of debris and that NASA are panicking about this. I have to laugh at this as it can’t be possible for it too slow down and these people claim to get hold of top secret information before anyone else is just stupid and laughable.
You got it Debra – more baloney. With Elenin basically out of the picture, some people are eager for the next “apocalypse”. This ain’t it.
A well-known pseudoscientist has, in all seriousness, posted the radar picture of YU55 alongside a scaled-down version of the Borg sphere on his page, passing it off as an ‘artist’s impression’ – as if he had somehow commissioned an artist to draw it for him!
It’s hard to believe how far into la-la land some people are prepared to go to get a following….and although the wiser ones are calling him out on it, he has enough of the gullible kind to actually take this rendering of the asteroid very seriously indeed and to believe they’re going to see (with the naked eye, no less) a Borg-like sphere passing overhead!
Carol,
Now wait a minute. Wasn’t the Borg ship a cube??
There was a cube, but there was also a sphere:
http://www.scenicreflections.com/download/271255/Borg_Sphere_Wallpaper/
Carol,
Ahhhhhhh … I guess I’ll need to assimilate that.
Dear Astrobob
If an astroid was going to hit the earth, would we even be told? I would think not because of a total social breakdown along with total hysteria.
Hi William,
I can’t imagine we’d be in the dark, though we may get very little notice if only because the asteroid could approach from the sun’s direction. If so, we wouldn’t know it would hit until too late. It’s all public information on NASA and other sites whenever a near-Earth asteroid that could potentially harm our planet is discovered. There are a lot of people and programs tracking near-Earth asteroids right now with the goal of characterizing as many as possible so we can know in advance of any concerns. Hundreds have been found and studied.
It is laughable Bob after this asteroid it will be Friday 11/11/11 then after that a full year of 2012 doomsdays no doubt. There are definatly people making money out of all of this. I do get a laugh out of the imagination of some of these people. As for the scientific knowledge my two children have better knowledge of science than some of these people.
Thanks Bob! I’m hoping to get my telescope out and try to catch it both visually and photographically. The weather forecast isn’t looking too good right now.
Hey Tom,
I’m also hoping to see it, but like you, the forecast doesn’t look good for me either. If you do get a picture, please e-mail me a copy to post on the blog at: rking@duluthnews.com
Would someone please make a simple line graph on the exact time we can expect to possibly see YU55 across the U.S. skies. Or if that’s too difficult tell me what time I can see it in Colorado.
Thanks,
Dave
Dave,
Just use the charts I included on this blog at: http://tinyurl.com/72vx7gy
Subtract one hour for Mountain Standard time and you’ll see that the two charts show the asteroid’s motion across an hour of time between about 7 and 8 o’clock your time. You will also need a telescope of at least 6 inches aperture to spot it, since it’s 100 times fainter than the naked eye can see. For more information, see this more recent blog: http://tinyurl.com/6pscajs
Hi Astrobob This Is My First Time On Here, I Just Have A Couple Of Questions For You. People Was Saying At The Same Time As Yu55 Passes Between The Earth & Moon That The Tail Of Elenin Passes The Same Time On November 8th & It Will Collide & Impact Us Is That True? & What Is This With Everyone Saying 11-11-11 Is The Date Im Soo Confused Please Help Me?
Wendy,
2005 YU55 will not pass between the Earth and moon, but 200,000 miles from Earth and 150,000 miles from the moon. Comet Elenin’s dusty remains are presently over 35 MILLION miles away and headed into deep space.No collision is even possible. 11/11/11 is just a date on the calendar. Rest easy.
Bob,
Where did you get the latest elements for 2005 yu55 posted on your blog?
I just checked the elements on the Minor Planet Center Web site for this object. These have an epoch of Aug 27, 2011. The elements on your blog are significantly different and put the asteroid well ahead (eastward) of the MPC elements (~152 arcminutes).
I need to get the path nailed down tonight to be ready tomorrow for imaging with a small FOV (15 arcminutes).
Phil Sullivan
Hi Phil,
I got the elements from JPL’s Horizon website at http://tinyurl.com/7uhj5tl
When I put them into MegaStar, the positions were very close to the path published in the November issue of Sky and Telescope. Check it out and see if you get a different result.
Hi Bob:
As the post from Phil mentioned above, the figures you give are significantly different. Are those figures geocentric, or possibly even heliocentric?
Thanks!
Steve
Hi Steve,
Like I said, the figures are from the JPL site. I made sure to test them with my own software before putting them in the blog. I then compared the path shown in MegaStar with that in Sky and Telescope and the match, while not perfect, was very good. Phil’s path, which varies by 152′ or over 2 degrees, would put the asteroid in a very different place indeed. Some variation is expected due to parallax, and if his plot is for a city far to the east or west of the continental U.S., then it could vary by a large amount. What is your approximate location? Then again, Sky and Telescope MIGHT be wrong, but I doubt it. I can’t access MegaStar at the moment, but I’ll give it another run-through tonight. Can you also send me the elements you’re using? Thanks!
Bob,
I went to the JPL site, and using two different paths, I ended up with the same elements as on the Minor Planet Center page. Here’s one of the search tools I used on the JPL site:
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi#top
Searching for 2005 YU55 (case sensitive) I got the MPC elements. Can you please be specific on how you found the elements posted on the blog? I really need the most recent and accurate elements, since I’ll be trying to pick this bugger up with a CCD FOV of about 15 arcminutes. If you’ve found elements that are more recent I’ll certainly want to use them.
Once I’m satisfied I’ve got the right elements I can correct for geocentric parallax in Guide.
Many thanks,
Phil
Sounds like you got ‘em! I hope your skies are clear and you’ll have success tracking down that rock.
Correction:
I found them. The new elements were right there when I clicked on “generate ephemeris”. I should have done that to begin with, but I really didn’t want an ephemeris. I just wanted the ^#*! elements. Searching for the elements sent me on a fools errand. (It does lead to confusion when one set of elements is used to “generate ephemeris” and a different set is produced when searching the data base specifically for the elements.)
Thanks for posting those new elements.
Phil
You’re welcome Phil. You had me nervous there for a minute. Yes, you actually have to click the Generate Ephemeris button to get the elements. At least ephemeris creation is fast. I figured I’d save everyone the trouble by publishing the latest elements in the blog.
Hi Bob,
Superb work; I’m sharing your article locally. Great post, and thanks for the charts!
Thanks Robert. Good luck tomorrow night!
Robert and everyone,
By the way, the chart times in the Wiki diagram are not accurate. The 23:30 UT time should read 5:30 UT. Whoever did it mixed those times up.
i know this asteroid is flying by us is all scientifically approved and all, and dont take me the wrong way im not superstitious but shouldnt we be worrying a little less about YU55 hitting earth and a little more more about whats on/in/how it came in our pull? yes i know its big beyond our comprehension and ever growing out there, and probability obviously plays a factor, but what a good time to pass. get the earth and its moon in one shot. i mean asteroids are like giant buss loops, couldn’t something be traveling on it, via bacteria/other intelligence/ unknown gasses. and im not saying there gonna jump on our planet/moon but it would be a pretty good excuse to observe.
Cj,
If this asteroid’s trajectory threatened Earth in any way, it would be out of the fringe and all over the astronomical world (amateurs and professionals) as well as in all the mainstream media. Its orbit is extremely well known and its minute by minute position predictable as it approaches and then passes the Earth-moon system. Maybe some day in the distant future it might possibly whack our planet but not for at least the next 100 years.
so what your saying is we can track that asteroid every second of its life(im talking visual, not radar)? i do know what ur saying tho it is in orbit around our system so kinnda hard to pick up unknown things, but we cant keep full video surveillance on an asteroid 24/7 lol. on another note isnt that something we would do if we did find a another plaint first, and didnt want to be noticed. also another opinion/question whats your take on plaint x, i literally just read a fairly detailed article/ well story really, a few minutes ago. does that just sound like religious propaganda / an excuse to throw away creationism, and adapt something with the bible. or is that just me
Cj,
We can’t see the asteroid at the moment because it’s in the daytime sky. Optical telescopes here on Earth can’t get past the ‘daylight barrier’, however radio telescopes can. That’s why Goldstone was able to both track and bounce radar waves off the object on the 7th. Planet X is completely hypothetical. There might be another planet lurking out there in distant reaches of the solar system but to date there is no observational evidence for one.
im not interested in impact, this whole time i dont care about its impact were not gonna get hit i know that i get it, were never gonna get hit (by anything worth mentioning)for at least my entire life so i honestly dont really care or want to spend my years learning about impact. i really dont know how to say what im thinking then thank you for your time
Cj,
OK. From your first comment, I assumed you were interested or concerned about impact.
im not just talking about YU55 passing earth. i am concerned about YU55 the asteroid. we really dont know what could of been done to such asteroid BECAUSE it gets really close to earth, i should of phase my points little more clear, i dont usually get to talk space, let alone with an GOOD opinionated person. i live with idiots:(
Cj,
You’re right, we need to learn more and fund projects that would mitigate a potential future impact. The first thing you have to do is characterize “who’s in the neighborhood” and ongoing surveys have been underway for the past 10 years or so that are doing exactly that. Once you know what you’re up against, you take a closer look at the ones that potentially could threaten Earth. Assuming we know our neighborhood well, we can make a prediction that an asteroid has a certain probability of causing harm. Based on how serious the risk is, then we have to act. There are lots of ideas out there on what to do — everything from blowing up an asteroid to gently nudging it with a rocket or orbiting a mass around it to gravitationally morph its orbit into a non-threatening one. The good thing is that the probability of a serious impact like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs is very remote. Smaller ones however can cause significant damage. Could we do something if we knew a month in advance of an impact? Probably not. We’d have to know some years in advance to use a non-destructive method. Here’s a decent Wiki entry that might provide more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid-impact_avoidance
Thank you Bob for your information. Because your info I could make a video of the asteroid and take some photos. Your maps were invaluable.
Regards
Jesús Muñoz
MÉXICO
Thanks Jesús! I’m glad they worked for you.