The Asteroid/Comet Connection's
daily news journal about
asteroids, comets, and meteors

Today's issue status: done

• News briefs – planetary protection, remembering Columbia & new comet P/2003 WC7 (LINEAR-Catalina)
• Risk monitoring – JPL has removed 2004 BL86 & NEODyS has posted 2004 BG86

Cover image: This image stack is from the second position that Peter Birtwhistle reported from early January 29th in confirming LINEAR's discovery of the small near-Earth asteroid 2004 BB75, which was announced in MPEC 2004-B65 with absolute magnitude H=22.6. The 15 ten-second exposures are stacked on the motion of the faint object, thus the background stars appear as streaks.

Planetary protection:  The Atlanta, Georgia Journal-Consitution has an article dated today (posted yesterday) about planetary protection of the microorganism kind. It tells about how Mars has already been seeded with Earth organisms, what lengths NASA goes to to try to minimize the problem, future preparations for Mars sample returns, and current preparations for solar and comet particle returns. Not mentioned is the Hayabusa asteroid sample return, which has been moved from Utah to Australia (see an A/CC report). It also tells about a questionable report of bacteria surviving exposure on the Moon for more than two years.

Comet news:  IAUC 8280 late today announces that an asteroidal object was independently discovered by LINEAR in New Mexico on November 18th and by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona on January 31st. When placed by CSS on the NEO Confirmation Page (NEOCP), it was found to have a coma by Jim Young at Table Mountain Observatory in southern California

Remembering the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster one year ago today brings back the August namings of NEAT/Palomar-discovered Main Belt asteroids for each of the lost crew members, as told about in a NASA/JPL news release and tribute last year.

and by Gordon Garradd and Rob McNaught at Siding Spring in Australia. MPEC 2004-C03 has details and a preliminary calculation that puts perihelion four days from now at 1.65 AU. It has been designated and named P/2003 WC7 (LINEAR-Catalina).

Risk monitoring 1 Feb.

The Sunday Daily Orbit Update MPEC (DOU) has observations of 2004 BL86 from yesterday from LINEAR in New Mexico, and today JPL removed its impact solutions for this object.

NEODyS today joined JPL in posting 2004 BG86. No further observations were reported in today's DOU.

The DOU does have observations of perhaps the most interesting newly listed object, 2004 BE68, a half-mile (0.8 km.) wide with a very preliminary first impact solution just over four years away. LONEOS in Arizona caught it Friday morning and LINEAR yesterday morning. JPL posted it overnight and today both risk monitors cut their preliminary impact solution counts by large numbers, and NEODyS slightly lowered its overall risk ratings while JPL slightly raised its ratings.

2004 BZ74 isn't reported in today's DOU but the Minor Planet Center Last Observation page is showing that Siding Spring in Australia caught it today. 2004 BN41 and 2003 YG118 aren't reported, and BN41 will be in view only for another week.

For those new to the process of studying impact hazards, please note that today's "Risk monitoring" report narrates routine activity in the night-and-day cycle of observation and analysis that identifies and usually soon removes risk possibilities. There is nothing unusual or alarming here. An "impact solution" (also known as a "virtual impactor" or "VI") is not a prediction but rather a possibility that hasn't been eliminated yet. To learn more about risk monitoring, see "Understanding Risk Pages" by Jon Giorgini of JPL, and other links related to this subject.