On Fri, 19 Jul 2002 15:09:08 -0700 (MST), Brian Skiff wrote: > The recently discovered asteroid 2002 NY40 will be making a close > approach August 18-19. Minimum distance based on the first orbit is > 0.0036 AU, or about a third of a million miles = half a million kilometers. > The current prediction is for it to get up to about mag. 10. The object > will be moving at some 125 deg/day. > Details can be found here: > > http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K02/K02O17.html > > Remember that because of the close approach, the ephemeris shown in this > MPEC is likely to change drastically in the coming weeks. To actually > find it you'll need an up-to-date ephemeris calculated within a few days > of the close approach. Use the one here only for general planning purposes. > Here's more interesting info from Sky & Telescope: > ========================================================================= > > * * * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - July 26, 2002 * * * * > > ========================================================================= > > Welcome to S&T's Weekly News Bulletin. Images, the full text of stories > abridged here, and other enhancements are available on our Web site, > SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs provided below. Clear skies! > > ========================================================================= > > > HEFTY ASTEROID TO SWEEP NEAR EARTH > > [...] > > Still quite faint at magnitude 18, 2002 NY40 is making a very tight loop > around the star Beta Aquarii. During the next few weeks it will brighten > tremendously and yet remain almost motionless in the sky -- the eerie > signature of an asteroid hurtling right toward Earth! On the night of > Saturday, August 17th, 2002 NY40 should reach magnitude 9.3 when well > placed for viewing from North America. At that time its angular velocity > will exceed 4 arcminutes per minute, a motion easily perceptible in small > telescopes. SKY & TELESCOPE plans to issue detailed observing > instructions, through AstroAlerts and SkyandTelescope.com, in the days > leading up to this rare event.... > > [...] -Paul -- This message is from the AZ-Observing mailing list. See this message's header if you want info about unsubscribing or the list's archive. This is a discussion list. Please send personal inquiries directly to the message author. In other words, do not use "reply" for personal messages. Thanks.