[meteorite-list] NASA Scientists Get First Images of Asteroid 2007 TU24

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:38:23 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200801260038.QAA15179_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-014

NASA Scientists Get First Images of Earth Flyby Asteroid
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
January 25, 2008

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. Asteroid 2007 TU24 will pass within 1.4 lunar distances, or
538,000 kilometers (334,000 miles), of Earth on Jan. 29 at 12:33 a.m.
Pacific time (3:33 a.m. Eastern time).

"With these first radar observations finished, we can guarantee that
next week's 1.4-lunar-distance approach is the closest until at least
the end of the next century," said Steve Ostro, JPL astronomer
and principal investigator for the project. "It is also the asteroid's
closest Earth approach for more than 2,000 years."

Scientists at NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL have
determined that there is no possibility of an impact with Earth in the
foreseeable future.

Asteroid 2007 TU24 was discovered by the NASA-sponsored Catalina
Sky Survey on Oct. 11, 2007. The first radar detection of the asteroid
was acquired on Jan. 23 using the Goldstone 70-meter (230-foot) antenna.
The Goldstone antenna is part of NASA's Deep Space Network Goldstone
station in Southern California's Mojave Desert. Goldstone's 70-meter
diameter (230-foot) antenna is capable of tracking a
spacecraft traveling more than 16 billion kilometers (10 billion miles)
from Earth. The surface of the 70-meter reflector must remain
accurate within a fraction of the signal wavelength, meaning that the
precision across the 3,850-square-meter (41,400-square-foot) surface is
maintained within one centimeter (0.4 inch).

Ostro and his team plan further radar observations of asteroid 2007 TU24
using the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto
Rico on Jan. 27-28 and Feb. 1-4.

The asteroid will reach an approximate apparent magnitude 10.3 on Jan.
29-30 before quickly becoming fainter as it moves farther from Earth. On
that night, the asteroid will be observable in dark and clear skies
through amateur telescopes with apertures of at least 7.6 centimeters
(three inches). An object with a magnitude of 10.3 is about 50 times
fainter than an object just visible to the naked eye in a clear, dark sky.

Scientists working with Ostro on the project include Lance Benner and
Jon Giorgini of JPL, Mike Nolan of the Arecibo Observatory, and Greg
Black of the University of Virginia.

NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The
Near Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard,"
discovers, characterizes and computes trajectories for these objects to
determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet. The
Arecibo Observatory is part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere
Center, a national research center operated by Cornell University,
Ithaca, N.Y., for the National Science Foundation. JPL is a division of
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

For more information, visit http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov >

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Media contact: Contact: DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle at jpl.nasa.gov

Grey Hautaluoma 202-358-0668
Headquarters, Washington
grey.hautaluoma-1 at nasa.gov

2008-014
Received on Fri 25 Jan 2008 07:38:23 PM PST


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