HALLOWEEN ASTEROID ATTACK: CIA Plotting Man
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The Evening Sky Map Evening the of Distribution Free and Production Support the Help (127° from Sun, Morning Sky) Sun, Morning (127° from (Evening Sky) at 22H UT
I N E D R I A C A S T N E O D I T A C L E O R N I G D S T S H A E P H M O O R C I . Z N O a r o e u t a n t d o r O t N h o e t Z r N a o I e C r p t h R p I a C R O s e r l C e a H t s L s t i E E , a s l e H ( P d T F o u O l t e i D t R NORTH ( a N N M l E C A n X P O r ) A e H . h C M T t . I r P o N S L n E E P Z m “ o E NORTHERN HEMISPHERE A N r H F O M T R T U Y N H s E e Etamin ” K E ) t W S . h . T e T E U B W B R i g HERCULES N W D The Evening Sky Map E D T T i MARCH 2014 WH p A p E C e FREE* EACH MONTH FOR YOU TO EXPLORE, LEARN & ENJOY THE NIGHT SKY O CEPHEUS μ S r L K ( Y o E ν r R M . P A t A l SKY MAP SHOWS HOW o o Get Sky Calendar on Twitter S P i T u r δ C A g a E h R h J c Sky Calendar – March 2014 ) http://twitter.com/skymaps O THE NIGHT SKY LOOKS B U l n o O DRACO N c w L D a a r t A NE e d I I EARLY MAR PM β 9 - T d T e S 1 New Moon at 8:02 UT. -
Radar Images Provide Details on Halloween Asteroid 4 November 2015
Radar images provide details on Halloween asteroid 4 November 2015 California, to transmit high-power microwaves toward the asteroid. The signal bounced off the asteroid, and its radar echoes were received by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's (NRAO) 100-meter (330-foot) Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The radar images achieve a spatial resolution as fine as 13 feet (4 meters) per pixel. The radar images were taken as the asteroid flew past Earth on October 31 at 1 p.m. EDT at about 1.3 lunar distances (300,000 miles, or 480,000 kilometers) from Earth. Asteroid 2015 TB145 is spherical in shape and approximately 2,000 feet (600 meters) in diameter. "The radar images of asteroid 2015 TB145 show Asteroid 2015 TB145 is depicted in eight individual radar portions of the surface not seen previously and images collected on Oct. 31, 2015 between 5:55 a.m. PDT (8:55 a.m. EDT) and 6:08 a.m. PDT (9:08 a.m. reveal pronounced concavities, bright spots that EDT). At the time the radar images were taken, the might be boulders, and other complex features that asteroid was between 440,000 miles (710,000 could be ridges," said Lance Benner of NASA's Jet kilometers) and about 430,000 miles (690,000 Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who kilometers) distant. Asteroid 2015 TB145 safely flew past leads NASA's asteroid radar research program. Earth on Oct. 31, at 10:00 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) at "The images look distinctly different from the about 1.3 lunar distances (300,000 miles, 480,000 Arecibo radar images obtained on October 30 and kilometers). -
Ages of Asteroid Families with the YORP-Eye Method
MNRAS 000, 1–15 (2018) Preprint 28 November 2018 Compiled using MNRAS LATEX style file v3.0 Ages of asteroid families with the YORP-eye method Paolo Paolicchi,1⋆ F. Spoto,2 Z. Kneˇzevi´c3 and A. Milani4 1Dept.Physics, University of Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa, Italy 2IMMCE, Observatoire de Paris, Av. Denfert–Rochereau 77, 75014 Paris, France 3Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Kneza Mihaila 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia 4Dept.Mathematics, University of Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 5, I-56127 Pisa, Italy Accepted XXX. Received YYY; in original form ZZZ ABSTRACT We have recently shown the possibility of finding footprints of the YORP effect con- cerning the members of asteroid dynamical families, in a plot proper semimajor axis– magnitude (the so–called “V–plot”), and in spite of several biases and uncertainties. That work introduced the concept of the “YORP–eye”, the depopulated regions in the plot above, whose location is diagnostic of the age of the family. In the present paper we complete the analysis using an improved algorithm and an extended database of families, and we discuss the potential errors due to uncertainties and dispersion of the astronomical data. We confirm that the analysis connected to the search for the YORP-eye can lead to an estimate of the age, which is similar and strongly correlated to that obtained by the analysis of the V–slope size dependent spreading due to the Yarkovsky effect. In principle the YORP-eye analysis alone can lead to an estimate of the ages of other families, which have no independent age estimates. -
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Data analysis of 2005 Regulus occultation and simulation of the 2014 occultation Costantino Sigismondi, ICRANet, UFRJ and Observatorio Nacional, Rio de Janeiro [email protected] Tony George, IOTA North America [email protected] Thomas Flatrès, IOTA European Section [email protected] Abstract On March 20, 2014 at 6:06 UT (2:06 New York time) Regulus, the 1.3 magnitude brighter star of Leo constellation, is going to be occulted by the asteroid 163 Erigone. The unusual event, visible to the naked eye over NYC, can allow to measure the shape of the asteroid, with reaching a space resolution below the diffraction limit of the eye, and of all instruments not based on interferometry. Ultimately the aperture of the instrument is related to the amount of scintillation affecting the light curve of the occultation, limitating the accuracy of video recorded data. The asteroid profile scans the surface of the star at a velocity of 6 mas/s; the diameter of the star is about 1.3 mas and the detection of the stellar limb darkening signature is discussed, taking into consideration also the Fresnel fringes. New data reduction with R-OTE software of the 2005 Regulus occultation and simulations of the 2014 occultation with Fren_difl software are presented. The occultation of Regulus of March 20, 2014 above New York City The total solar eclipse of 1925 above New York area [5] and the occultation of delta Ophiuchi above France and Germany in 2010 [4] have been two occultation events followed by a relatively high number of observers. Potentially the occultation of 1.3 mas [8] first magnitude star Regulus over New York City can be the first asteroidal occultation observed by million people and broadcasted on the internet [23]. -
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A&A 598, A63 (2017) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201629584 & c ESO 2017 Astrophysics Large Halloween asteroid at lunar distance?,?? T. G. Müller1, A. Marciniak2, M. Butkiewicz-B˛ak2, R. Duffard3, D. Oszkiewicz2, H. U. Käufl4, R. Szakáts5, T. Santana-Ros2, C. Kiss5, and P. Santos-Sanz3 1 Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, Giessenbachstraße, 85741 Garching, Germany e-mail: [email protected] 2 Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, A. Mickiewicz University, Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznan,´ Poland 3 Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) C/ Camino Bajo de Huétor, 50, 18008 Granada, Spain 4 ESO, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching, Germany 5 Konkoly Observatory, Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary Received 25 August 2016 / Accepted 20 October 2016 ABSTRACT The near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 2015 TB145 had a very close encounter with Earth at 1.3 lunar distances on October 31, 2015. We obtained 3-band mid-infrared observations of this asteroid with the ESO VLT-VISIR instrument covering approximately four hours in total. We also monitored the visual lightcurve during the close-encounter phase. The NEA has a (most likely) rotation period of 2:939 ± 0:005 h and the visual lightcurve shows a peak-to-peak amplitude of approximately 0:12 ± 0:02 mag. A second rotation period of 4:779 ± 0:012 h, with an amplitude of the Fourier fit of 0:10 ± 0:02 mag, also seems compatible with the available lightcurve measurements. We estimate a V − R colour of 0:56 ± 0:05 mag from different entries in the MPC database. -
The Minor Planet Bulletin
THE MINOR PLANET BULLETIN OF THE MINOR PLANETS SECTION OF THE BULLETIN ASSOCIATION OF LUNAR AND PLANETARY OBSERVERS VOLUME 38, NUMBER 2, A.D. 2011 APRIL-JUNE 71. LIGHTCURVES OF 10452 ZUEV, (14657) 1998 YU27, AND (15700) 1987 QD Gary A. Vander Haagen Stonegate Observatory, 825 Stonegate Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 [email protected] (Received: 28 October) Lightcurve observations and analysis revealed the following periods and amplitudes for three asteroids: 10452 Zuev, 9.724 ± 0.002 h, 0.38 ± 0.03 mag; (14657) 1998 YU27, 15.43 ± 0.03 h, 0.21 ± 0.05 mag; and (15700) 1987 QD, 9.71 ± 0.02 h, 0.16 ± 0.05 mag. Photometric data of three asteroids were collected using a 0.43- meter PlaneWave f/6.8 corrected Dall-Kirkham astrograph, a SBIG ST-10XME camera, and V-filter at Stonegate Observatory. The camera was binned 2x2 with a resulting image scale of 0.95 arc- seconds per pixel. Image exposures were 120 seconds at –15C. Candidates for analysis were selected using the MPO2011 Asteroid Viewing Guide and all photometric data were obtained and analyzed using MPO Canopus (Bdw Publishing, 2010). Published asteroid lightcurve data were reviewed in the Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB; Warner et al., 2009). The magnitudes in the plots (Y-axis) are not sky (catalog) values but differentials from the average sky magnitude of the set of comparisons. The value in the Y-axis label, “alpha”, is the solar phase angle at the time of the first set of observations. All data were corrected to this phase angle using G = 0.15, unless otherwise stated. -
Asteroid Cratering Families: Recognition and Collisional Interpretation A
A&A 622, A47 (2019) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201834056 & © ESO 2019 Astrophysics Asteroid cratering families: recognition and collisional interpretation A. Milani1,†, Z. Kneževic´2, F. Spoto3, and P. Paolicchi4 1 Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 5, 56127 Pisa, Italy 2 Serbian Academy Sci. Arts, Kneza Mihaila 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia e-mail: [email protected] 3 IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Lille, 77 av. Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France e-mail: [email protected] 4 Department of Physics, University of Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy e-mail: [email protected] Received 9 August 2018 / Accepted 17 November 2018 ABSTRACT Aims. We continue our investigation of the bulk properties of asteroid dynamical families identified using only asteroid proper ele- ments to provide plausible collisional interpretations. We focus on cratering families consisting of a substantial parent body and many small fragments. Methods. We propose a quantitative definition of cratering families based on the fraction in volume of the fragments with respect to the parent body; fragmentation families are above this empirical boundary. We assess the compositional homogeneity of the families and their shape in proper element space by computing the differences of the proper elements of the fragments with respect to the ones of the major body, looking for anomalous asymmetries produced either by post-formation dynamical evolution, or by multiple collisional/cratering events, or by a failure of the hierarchical clustering method (HCM) for family identification. Results. We identified a total of 25 dynamical families with more than 100 members ranging from moderate to heavy cratering. -
Chair's Report by Jim Wamsley from the Editor Volume 21, Number 4
Volume 21, Number 4 February 2014 From The Editor Chair’s Report by Jim Wamsley The Chair report this month will be a little shorter than most, just I hope everyone is like the month. surviving this Winter! Last month’s meeting went well. Steve Germann’s talk on his Sky The weather around here Stopper equatorial wedge was well received, judging by the number of people lately hasn’t exactly who went up to ask questions, and have a closer look at the device, both at been conducive to the break and at the end of the meeting. Matthew Mannering’s sky this month hands-on outdoor was also well received, and very informative. Thanks to you both for your astronomy activities. contribution, to make another successful H.A.A. meeting. We held the first Cosmology discussion group meeting Jan18th. Vladimir Pariev gave a short But this month’s E.H. has talk about planetary rings, with an impressive power point presentation, and lots of astronomical a Q&A session and discussion after. This was followed with the group watching reading from the comfort the second episode of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. of the indoor armchair, As far as observing this month, the only thing I have done is solar including the second of observing. I had an opportunity to join David Galbraith at the R.B.G. for Solar Dr. David Galbraith’s Thursday, and viewing the sun from my patio on the few clear moments we articles about remote have had this past month. I must be feeling my age, as the thought of going astronomy and astro- out to observe with the temp’s at -30 or more, is not as alluring as it once image acquisition. -
Halloween Asteroid a Treat for Radar Astronomers 22 October 2015, by Dc Agle
Halloween asteroid a treat for radar astronomers 22 October 2015, by Dc Agle Center, this is the closest currently known approach by an object this large until asteroid 1999 AN10, at about 2,600 feet (800 meters) in size, approaches at about 1 lunar distance (238,000 miles from Earth) in August 2027. "The trajectory of 2015 TB145 is well understood," said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "At the point of closest approach, it will be no closer than about 300,000 miles—480,000 kilometers or 1.3 lunar distances. Even though that is relatively close by celestial standards, it is expected to be fairly faint, so night-sky Earth observers would need at least a small telescope to view it." This is a graphic depicting the orbit of asteroid 2015 TB145. The asteroid will safely fly past Earth slightly The gravitational influence of the asteroid is so farther out than the moon's orbit on Oct. 31 at 10:05 a.m. small it will have no detectable effect on the moon Pacific (1:05 p.m. EDT and 17:05 UTC). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech or anything here on Earth, including our planet's tides or tectonic plates. The Center for NEO Studies at JPL is a central NASA scientists are tracking the upcoming node for NEO data analysis in NASA's Near-Earth Halloween flyby of asteroid 2015 TB145 with Object Observation Program and a key group several optical observatories and the radar involved with the international collaboration of capabilities of the agency's Deep Space Network astronomers and scientists who keep watch on the at Goldstone, California. -
Cfht-Um-Neos (Wainscoat).Key
The search for Near Earth Objects — how CFHT is helping Richard Wainscoat University of Hawaii, Institute for Astronomy Near Earth Objects Defined as objects that have perihelion less than 1.3 Astronomical Units May be asteroids or comets Largest risk is from asteroids (but impacts can be predicted well in advance Comets on elliptical orbits will have higher impact velocities, and there would be less warning time Near Earth Objects Earth impact from an asteroid (or comet) is the only natural disaster that can be prevented Pan-STARRS (on Haleakala, Maui) is helping to find dangerous asteroids and comets that may hit Earth in the future MegaCam on CFHT is being used to get rapid additional observations of these objects to characterize their orbits and size NASA funding NASA now funds Near Earth Object discovery and characterization $50 million per year The Chelyabinsk meteorite helped increase funding Operation of Pan-STARRS is funded by the NASA Near Earth Object Observation program NASA has also provided funds to help finish Pan- STARRS2 NASA funding Nearly all discovery and confirmation of Near Earth Objects comes from US-operated telescopes The major discovery telescopes were all built for other purposes All NEO discovery telescopes are threatened by light pollution There is much poorer coverage of the southern hemisphere February 15, 2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite Approximately 18 meters in diameter Approximately 9,100 tonnes 19 km/s impact velocity Exploded at an altitude of 23 km Glancing trajectory resulted in a high altitude explosion; -
Planeten Editorial 1
www.vds-astro.de ISSN 1615-0880 IV/2016 Nr. 59 Zeitschrift der Vereinigung der Sternfreunde e.V. Schwerpunktthema: Klein- Asteroiden-Suchprojekte Telescopium Newtonianum Sonnenfinsternis am 9.3.16 Seite 8 Seite 82 Seite 100 planeten Editorial 1 Liebe Mitglieder, liebe Sternfreunde, den kleinen Planeten wird oft nur wenig Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet (wann haben Sie zum Beispiel zum letzten Mal Ceres oder Vesta visuell beobachtet?), doch in der Fachgruppe Kleine Planeten der VdS ist die Positionsbestim- mung von Asteroiden das zentrale Thema. Mit entsprechender Ausrüstung und Einarbeitung können auch Amateurastronomen zur Verbesserung der Kleinplanetenbahnen beitragen oder sogar bisher unbekannte Kleinplaneten neu entdecken. Das umfangreiche Schwerpunktthema zu Kleinplaneten in diesem Heft bietet viele interessante Einblicke und Anleitungen rund um die Kleinkörper des Sonnensystems. Unser Titelbild: Welche Themen die Besucher der Bochumer Herbsttagung am 12. November „9. Mai 2016: Ab 13:10 MESZ stieg die erwarten, ist noch nicht bekannt, interessante Vorträge und manches „First Spannung ins Unermessliche: Wo am light“ sind hier aber immer garantiert, wie der Bericht zur Tagung im ver- östlichen Sonnenrand würde Merkur gangenen Jahr auf Seite 120 deutlich zeigt. Weitere Veranstaltungstermine genau erscheinen und wie deutlich würde finden Sie auf Seite 143. er sich im Lichte der Hα-Linie vor den Sonnenrandspikulen abheben? Sowohl Was bietet uns der Himmel im letzten Quartal des Jahres? Versuchen Sie doch visuell als am Monitor einer Videokamera einmal, das Minimum des Bedeckungsveränderlichen Algol zu bestimmen. war dann der Transitbeginn überraschend Die Prognosen dazu finden Sie ab Seite 130 oder bei der Arbeitsgemeinschaft problemlos zu beobachten. Dass dabei für veränderliche Sterne unter www.bav-astro.eu. -
International Asteroid Warning Network Report to STSC 2016
International Asteroid Warning Network Report to STSC 2016 Lindley Johnson Program Executive / Planetary Defense Officer Science Mission Directorate NASA HQ February 16, 2016 UN Office of Outer Space Affairs Overview for NEO Commiee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Threat Response United Naons COPUOS/OOSA Inform in case of credible threat Parent Government Delegates Determine Impact me, Potenal deflecon locaon and severity mission plans Space Missions Internaonal Planning Advisory Asteroid Warning Group Network (IAWN) (SMPAG) Observers, analysts, Space Agencies and modelers… Offices Worldwide Observing Network Received ~20.6 Million Observations from 39 countries in 2015 (and one in space!) Known Near Earth Asteroid Population As of 12/31/15 13,514 Also 104 comets 1650 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Start of Come within NASA NEO 5 million miles “Program” of Earth orbit 878 153 PHAs All statistics available at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/ 4 Growth in Capability All statistics available at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/ 5 Near Earth Asteroid Survey Status * *Harris & D’Abramo, “The population of near-Earth asteroids”, Icarus 257 (2015) 302–312, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2015.05.004 6 Near Earth Asteroid Survey Status 7 Orbit Prediction and Assessment of Impact Risk http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ http://newton.dm.unipi.it/neodys/ Parallel Websites at ESA and NASA contain all known information on discovered NEOs 8 Dispelled Asteroid Impact Hoax • Numerous blogs and web postings erroneously claimed that a large asteroid would impact Earth, sometime between Sept. 15 and 28, 2015. On one of those dates, as internet rumors speculated, there would be an impact -- "evidently" near Puerto Rico -- causing mass destruction to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States and Mexico, as well as Central and South America.