INCOMING!, Detection and observation of Earth-approaching asteroids. |
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INCOMING!, Detection and observation of Earth-approaching asteroids. |
 Oct 6 2008, 10:39 PM
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#16
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Member  Group: Members Posts: 360 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557  |
Man, I've never seen anything quite like this. Twenty observatories have turned in collectively nearly 200 observations of this object, and the Minor Planet Center is issuing updates about every fifteen minutes. This little rock is definitely getting it's share of attention.
A fair number of professional observatories seem to be poised to follow this thing almost into the ground. |
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 Oct 6 2008, 10:53 PM
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#17
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 |
LINKS, man! Give us links, HTL!
-------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
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Oct 6 2008, 10:59 PM
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#18
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Member Group: Members Posts: 360 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
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Oct 6 2008, 11:31 PM
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#19
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 Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2605 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
I guess they won't be seeing it from here (bad luck!): Haboob sandstorm in Sudan
-------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Oct 6 2008, 11:38 PM
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#20
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 332 Joined: 11-April 08 From: Sydney, Australia Member No.: 4093 |
If this thing is coming in shallow from NE to SW then it should be visible in Alexandria, Cairo, Egyptian tourist destinations, maybe as far down as Khartoum ... so there is some chance to get it on film. If I get my timzones right, it will be night then. Anybody's got a groundtrack?
-------------------- |
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Oct 6 2008, 11:46 PM
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#21
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 Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2816 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
hmm, I think my Celestia copy needs fixing. Using the most up-to-date orbital parameters, I get a miss distance of 5,850 km over North Africa.
-------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Oct 6 2008, 11:55 PM
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#22
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Member Group: Members Posts: 251 Joined: 22-September 08 From: Spain Member No.: 4350 |
The NEO Program lists it as a close approach at 0.02 LD. That's under 8000 km.
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/ It was briefly in the Recently Observed list of Impact Risk, with dates beyond 2080, but it isn't anymore. -------------------- "I can easily see still in my mind’s-eye the beautiful clusters of these berries as they appeared to me..., when I came upon an undiscovered bed of them... – the rich clusters drooping in the shade there and bluing all the ground" -- Thoreau
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Oct 6 2008, 11:59 PM
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#23
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Member Group: Members Posts: 360 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
Used a reliable horizon calculator to come up with some figures. Provided you have a clear horizon.
When it is at 20 miles altitude (32 km), under perfect seeing, it should be visible for over 400 miles (640 km) in every direction. It will probably survive down to this far. It should also be glowing brightly at 50 miles altitude (80 km), and at that point be seen for at least 650 miles (1000 km). |
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Oct 7 2008, 12:10 AM
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#24
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 Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 6474 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
QUOTE (Shaka @ Oct 6 2008, 01:31 PM)  My SR71 is in maintenance, or I'd be over there like a shot. Edit: Hey nprev! What can you rustle up in the next hour? Funny you should mention SRs. AFAIK, NASA is still flying a couple of those, but they're probably not equipped for astronomical obs (aeronautical stuff is their focus, I think.) Not enough notice to get 'em there, though, in any case. Re spaceborne obs: Wonder if anybody's geosynchronous weathersats in that region might try to get an IR-band snapshot? -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Oct 7 2008, 12:27 AM
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#25
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1229 Joined: 24-December 05 From: The blue one in between the yellow and red ones. Member No.: 618 |
QUOTE (nprev @ Oct 6 2008, 02:10 PM) ...probably not equipped for astronomical obs... Hey, guy! Just open the camera and roll inverted. Piece of cake. QUOTE Re spaceborne obs: I'm sure that the DSP sats will see it come in, I'll bet SBIRS HEO1 could count the microcraters on her. Assuming the timing was right. 
-------------------- My Grandpa goes to Mars every day and all I get are these lousy T-shirts!
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Oct 7 2008, 12:34 AM
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#26
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 6474 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Oct 7 2008, 12:47 AM
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#27
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Member Group: Members Posts: 332 Joined: 11-April 08 From: Sydney, Australia Member No.: 4093 |
Emily pointed to a beautiful simulation of the event at http://orbit.psi.edu/?q=node/22
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Oct 7 2008, 12:56 AM
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#28
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 Bloggette par Excellence Group: Admin Posts: 3959 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
By the way, discussion on Minor Planets Mailing List (which is where I got the link to that simulation) indicates that the press release wasn't correct when it described the flight direction -- it's not coming in from northeast, it's coming in more from the west, basically over the Sahara.
--Emily -------------------- |
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Oct 7 2008, 01:00 AM
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#29
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2816 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
I agree, that's the direction I got from my simulation in Celestia.
-------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Oct 7 2008, 01:00 AM
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#30
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Member Group: Members Posts: 360 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
QUOTE (Shaka @ Oct 6 2008, 06:48 PM) Er.. thanks, HTL. (If I wrote Holder of the Two Leashes every time, my posts would get trashed for wasting bandwidth.) When you referred to loads of observatories, I sort of anticipated a CometCam live picture. Ephemera are nice, but not very sexy.  My bad. I'm one of the very few people who could even get a little excited over watching raw positional information pouring in. Here is one real picture: Sky and Telescope I'm pretty sure just about every other pic of 2008 TC3 looks like that at this point. In a couple of hours, we may be getting some much more spectacular shots. A lot of people will shorten my title to "Holder", and I'll answer to that. The dogs don't mind, either. Actually, they don't have a clue. |
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