[meteorite-list] Watch Asteroid 2005 YU55 Buzz Earth

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 10:00:31 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201111071800.pA7I0VHN011673_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

November 7, 2011

Contacts:
Alan MacRobert
Senior Editor
+1 617-864-7360 x2151
macrobert at SkyandTelescope.com

J. Kelly Beatty
Senior Contributing Editor
+1 617-416-9991
jkellybeatty at comcast.net

Text & Graphics:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/about/pressreleases/133357483.html

WATCH MINI-ASTEROID 2005 YU55 BUZZ EARTH

Earth is about to be visited by the largest close-approaching asteroid
on record. Known as 2005 YU55, it is about a quarter mile (400 meters)
across, round, and quite dark. When it comes closest to us, at 6:28
p.m. EST (23:28 Universal Time) on November 8th, it will be 198,000
miles (319,000 km) from Earth's surface -- closer than the Moon's
orbit. Professional astronomers around the world will closely follow
the asteroid as it glides across the sky.

Weather permitting, backyard skywatchers also have a chance to spot
this interloper. A few hours after passing closest to us, it will peak
in brightness at magnitude 11.1, roughly 100 times fainter than the
limit of human vision. "The good news," says Alan MacRobert of SKY &
TELESCOPE magazine, "is that you should be able to spot the asteroid
with your telescope if it has an aperture of at least 6 to 8 inches."

The asteroid's track past Earth is especially favorable for western
Europe and North America. But you'll need to know exactly where and
when to look: the object will traverse the 70 degrees of sky eastward
across several constellations, from Aquila to Pegasus, in just 10
hours. At times it will zip among the background stars at 7 arcseconds
per second, covering a Moon's width of sky in under 5 minutes. And
light from a nearly full Moon will brighten the entire sky somewhat,
making faint stars and the asteroid somewhat more difficult to spot.

To determine where to look, SKY & TELESCOPE's editors have prepared
two detailed finder charts. The first gives a general sense of where
to look, and the second provides a detailed view to use while outside
with your telescope. Once you've aimed at exactly the right spot, you
shouldn't have much trouble telling which starlike point is 2005 YU55.
It will be gliding fast enough to move along in real time as you watch
using a moderately high-magnification eyepiece.

"As it passes Earth, the asteroid gets so close that its position
among the stars will be significantly affected by your location,"
explains MacRobert. So the magazine's detailed finder chart takes this
parallax effect into account, by including small upside-down maps of
the United States that permit you to establish the correct path for
your location.

Discovered nearly six years ago by Robert McMillan at Steward
Observatory's Spacewatch Telescope in Arizona, 2005 YU55 has been this
way before. In April 2010, it ventured close enough for detailed radar
probing by the giant radio dish at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It also
approached even closer in 1976, though it went by undetected.

Professional astronomers have recruited advanced backyard amateurs to
do precision brightness measurements of the asteroid during its flyby;
more information:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/skytel/beyondthepage/131161943.html

                           # # #

Note to editors: To match the style convention established by the
International Astronomical Union, the 55 in the name 2005 YU55 should
be rendered as a subscript if possible.

Sky Publishing (a New Track Media company) was founded in 1941 by
Charles A. Federer Jr. and Helen Spence Federer, the original editors
of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine. In addition to SKY & TELESCOPE and
SkyandTelescope.com, the company publishes two annuals (Beautiful
Universe and SkyWatch), as well as books, star atlases, posters,
prints, globes, and other fine astronomy products.
Received on Mon 07 Nov 2011 01:00:31 PM PST