Asteroid 2010 JL33 Imaged by Radar
On December 11–12, 2010 NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar (located in the California desert) imaged asteroid 2010 JL33 a couple of days after its closest approach to the Earth. At the time of...
View ArticleAsteroid Classification I – Dynamics
Asteroids are broadly classified according to two criteria; one is their orbit (dynamical classification), the other is their surface composition (spectral classification). Today we’ll take a look at...
View ArticleHow the MPC Defines “Interesting”: An Overview of Digest2
Sonia Keys, one of the MPC programmers, has written the first in a series of articles that will explain how the program Digest2 works. In short, Digest2 looks at a recently observed object moving...
View ArticleToo Close for Comfort? The Near-Earth Approach of 2011 MD
On June 27th 2011, a chunk of rock about the size of a school bus (though maybe as large as an 18-wheeler) whizzed by Earth at a distance of around 12,000 km (7,460 miles) from the ground. Discovered...
View ArticleClose, but no Cigar: The Flyby of Asteroid 2005 YU55
Asteroid 2005 YU55 was discovered in late 2005 (duh!) by Bob McMillan and Jim Scotti of Spacewatch, at the Lunar and Planetary Lab within the University of Arizona. Once the orbit was refined thanks to...
View ArticleGreen Lantern Gets a Red F in Solar System Astronomy
The other evening I watched Green Lantern on DVD. I suppose it’s an OK part 1, back story, introduction to the character type of movie, for what will likely become yet another superhero franchise. Ryan...
View ArticleThe Flyby of Asteroid 2011 CP4 on 2012/02/23
Another close flyby will be taking place on the night of February 23rd. I know it’s more than a week away, but I thought I’d get a head start on the doom-sayers. This time we’re being visited by a rock...
View ArticleClearing Up the FUD on 2012 DA14
FUD, Fear Uncertainty & Doubt; that’s what surrounds NEA (Near Earth Asteroid) 2012 DA14 right now. As the organisation responsible for receiving, processing and cataloguing all observations of...
View ArticleAsteroid Mining and Planetary Resources – Our Take on It
If you have a minimum of interest in Space and Astronomy then you will have probably heard about Planetary Resources, Inc., the company that on April 24th 2012 announced their intention to mine Near...
View ArticleThe MPC Talks at the UN
The Scientific and Technical subcommittee of the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) held its 50th meeting this past February 11-22, 2013 in Vienna, Austria. Attending as...
View ArticleSci-Fi Author Iain M. Banks Gets Asteroid Named after Him
In early April of this year we learnt from Iain Banks himself that he was sick, very sick. Cancer that started in the gall bladder spread quickly and precluded any cure, though he still hoped to be...
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Let’s Start 2014 with a Bang! Hello and Goodbye to Asteroid 2014 AA
Trajectory of asteroid 2014 AA before impact. The blue dot is Earth and the green line represents the asteroid’s trajectory, with small green dots spaced ~1 hour apart. Click for full size. Discovery...
View ArticleIntroducing the Asteroid Explorers Web Tool
Data is not information. As simple as this may seem, it is difficult for scientists to grasp, accustomed as they are to wade through mountains of data to eventually emerge with a gem of a fact. But...
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