* Astronomy

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Asteroid 2007 TU24

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University of Virginia research scientist Greg Black, working with astronomers at NASA and other institutions, has captured images of a small asteroid that passed relatively close to Earth on Jan. 29. Astronomers are busily refining their techniques for locating and observing asteroids that could potentially be a threat to our planet.
The object Black observed, Asteroid 2007 TU24, is only about 800 feet in diameter considered a very small object, and relatively difficult to locate and image in the vastness of space. The object was discovered only a few months prior to passing within 334,000 miles of Earth (our moon is about 220,000 miles away when at its closest point to Earth).

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Flyby of near Earth asteroid 2007 TU24 29 January 2008

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Near Earth Asteroid 2007 TU24

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Near Earth Asteroid 2007 TU24

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radar image of 2007 TU24 from Jan. 28, 2008

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This radar image of 2007 TU24 was obtained on January 28, 2008, about 12 hours before the asteroid's 1.4-lunar-distance pass by the Earth. The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Greenbank Telescope in West Virginia were used to take this image.

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An asteroid up to 600m in length rushed past the Earth this morning, giving astronomers a rare and relatively close-up glimpse of such a large object in near space.

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It was the closest an asteroid this size has come since 1985, and the closest one we know about until 2027.

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The Arecibo Observatory will have its sights set on a newly discovered asteroid next week as the object, called 2007 TU24, passes within 1.4 lunar distances, or 334,000 miles, from Earth.

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+ Larger image
These low-resolution radar images of asteroid 2007 TU24 were taken over a few hours by the Goldstone Solar System Radar Telescope in California's Mojave Desert. Image resolution is approximately 20-meters per pixel. Next week, the plan is to have a combination of several telescopes provide higher resolution images. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
+ Full resolution (83Kb)

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., have obtained the first images of asteroid 2007 TU24 using high-resolution radar data. The data indicate the asteroid is somewhat asymmetrical in shape, with a diameter roughly 250 meters (800 feet) in size.

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