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

Today's issue status: done, updated

• News briefs – spacecraft computers
• Risk monitoring – JPL has removed 2004 CB & more about 2004 BG121
  Part 2 –JPL has posted 2004 CK39

Cover: At left is the first animation received from Robert Hutsebaut, reworked at A/CC to reduce file size. It shows from December 29th the small object 2003 YH111 (H=24.52, roughly 40 meters/yards wide) that first brought this observer to the attention of A/CC readers back on December 29th. He notes that, in the 13 frames, the object "is traveling at a rate of 95'' arc/min. towards PA 345.9°!" This observing was done from Belgium with a Rent-a-scope telescope in the U.S., at New Mexico Skies Observatory.

Spacecraft computers:  Many news sites today are carrying an Associated Press story under various headlines about the operating system (OS) used on the Mars rovers and the Stardust comet probe, such as "Thinking machines crash on Mars, too," at the San Jose Mercury-News, and "Earthly Software Rebooted Spirit" at Wired News. See Friday "News briefs" for more links in this news thread.

Risk monitoring 15 Feb.

The Sunday Daily Orbit Update MPEC carries observations of 2004 CB from yesterday morning from New Mexico Skies Observatory and Hobbs Observatory in Wisconsin. And today JPL removed its last lone impact solution for this object, which is roughly estimated at just under a mile wide (1.53 km.).

In the unusual saga of 2004 BG121 (see late news yesterday), plugging this designation into the Minor Planet Ephemeris Service (MPES) today with options "MPC 8-line" and "Show residuals blocks" enabled gets no residuals and brings this unusual notation for an IAU-designated object: "No published elements available. Ephemeris is based on Vaisala elements."

Correction:  2004 BG121 under its "packed designation," K4BC1G, has been returned to the NEO Confirmation Page (NEOCP) with special tools for helping observers locate an object with a poorly known path. The SCN Priority List has this object as "Urgent" with a huge "sky uncertainty." [Thanks to Peter Birtwhistle and David Dixon for quickly bringing the NEOCP info to A/CC's attention.–Ed.]

Not reported for more than two weeks, tiny 2004 BN41 will tomorrow be taken off A/CC's Consolidated Risk Tables (CRT) page and the above Summary Risk Table, both used only to show

more Risk monitoring >>

2004 CB caught from New Mexico Skies by Robert Hutsebaut February 11th using a Rent-a-scope telescope.

<< continued from part 1

active analysis of objects that have impact solutions and are currently in view.

Update:  JPL has posted 2004 CK39 with one low-rated impact solution near the end of the century. It was announced today in MPEC 2004-C63 as discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona early Saturday and quickly followed-up by Table Mountain and Sabino Canyon observatories in southern California and Arizona, then caught again Sunday morning by Sandlot and Tenagra II observatories in Kansas and Arizona. According to the preliminary calculation, it has an eccentric orbit (e=0.92491) that reaches from near Mercury across the orbits of Earth and Jupiter. Its diameter may be somewhere in the range of 500 meter/yards to more than 1.1 km. (0.7 mile).