* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Asteroid 2005 YU55

Blobrana · L

Close Encounter of the Rocky Kind

Discovered by a UA astronomer six years ago, a city-block sized space rock will race past the Earth closer than the moon in what will be the closest encounter of an object of this size in more than 60 years.
When an asteroid the size of a city block zips past the Earth about 29,000 miles per hour on Nov. 8, it will seem like an encounter with an old acquaintance to University of Arizona astronomer Robert McMillan.
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Blobrana · L

Herschel to observe near-Earth asteroid

On Tuesday 8th November an asteroid called "2005 YU55" will pass within 325,000 km of Earth, briefly making it closer than the Moon. With a diameter of 400m, 2005 YU55 is the largest object to come so close for many years, and so provides a unique opportunity to observe such an object. Herschel will be providing far-infrared measurements of the asteroid, helping determine its temperature and composition.
The orbit of 2005 YU55 has been determined more accurately by radar measurements, allowing Herschel mission controllers to plan the observations as accurately as possible. The asteroid approaches from the sunward direction, and will take over a day to travel out to Herschel's location at the L2 point. Since Herschel cannot point close to the Sun it will not be viewing 2005 YU55 until 10th November, two days after its closest approach to Earth and a few hours after its closest approach to Herschel.
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Blobrana · L

Asteroid 2005 YU55

Credit NASA/JPL

Blobrana · L

Astronomers gear up for asteroid fly-by

Marshalling everything from major radar facilities to backyard telescopes, astronomers are gearing up for a fantastic view of an asteroid called 2005 YU55. The 400-metre-diameter rock is predicted to narrowly miss Earth on 8 November, scraping past us at just 0.85 of the distance between our planet and the Moon.
Large enough to cause regional devastation if it were to hit the Earth, 2005 YU55 is the closest pass by an asteroid this big since 1976, and there won't be another until 2028.
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Ed ~ at its brightest, observers will requite at least a 100mm refractor

Blobrana · L

Asteroid to make near miss of Earth in November

On Nov. 8, an asteroid named 2005 YU55 will pass within 0.85 lunar distances, about 203,000 miles, of the Earth. This is a near miss in astronomical terms. It was discovered in 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch Program and is a dark and nearly spherical object about 1,300 feet in diameter. As the future orbits of asteroids can be calculated precisely, astronomers can reassure us that it poses no threat of hitting the Earth for at least another century. The next near miss of Earth by an asteroid takes place in 2028 when asteroid (153814) 2001 WNS passes within 0.6 lunar distances, or a bit over 143,00 miles from us.
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Blobrana · L

Update:
The 400 metre wide asteroid 2005 YU55 will make a close pass (0.8 lunar distances, 0.0022 AU), travelling at 13.72 km/second, to the Earth-Moon system on the 8th November, 2011 @ 23:29 UT ±00:01.

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The Lunar Distance (LD), the distance between Earth and the Moon, equals 384,401 km, (or 0.00256 AU).

Blobrana · L

NASA in Final Preparations for Nov. 8 Asteroid Flyby

NASA scientists will be tracking asteroid 2005 YU55 with antennas of the agency's Deep Space Network at Goldstone, Calif., as the space rock safely flies past Earth slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov. 8. Scientists are treating the flyby of the 400-meter asteroid as a science target of opportunity - allowing instruments on "spacecraft Earth" to scan it during the close pass.
Tracking of the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time (PDT) on Nov. 4, using the massive 70-meter Deep Space Network antenna, and last for about two hours. The asteroid will continue to be tracked by 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 at 3:28 p.m. PST.
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Blobrana · L

Massive Asteroid Inbound

Blobrana · L

Near-earth asteroid fly-by receiving opportunity

UCLA will be conducting an extensive campaign of radar observations with the Arecibo Observatory, the Deep Space Network Goldstone facility, and the Green Bank Telescope and the Very Long Baseline Array.
Because YU55 will be so close to Earth, its radar echo will be
detectable with even small antennas (~1 m²). YU55's echo will be a slowly drifting signal with a bandwidth of ~1 Hz within a few kHz of 2380 MHz or 8560 MHz.
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