20 June '04 Major News about Minor Objects

Major News for 20 June 2004

Small objects
Discovery & follow-up for 14-20 June

It was a week of dark nights, albeit short ones in the northern hemisphere, and eight small asteroids (defined at right) were announced as newly discovered, five of them yesterday. One discovery was by the Arizona Catalina Sky Survey (CSS). Two were found with the Arizona Spacewatch 0.9m telescope thanks to online volunteer image reviewers in England and Vermont. And LINEAR, located in New Mexico but operated from Massachusetts, caught the other five, two of which were confirmed by it alone. (The CSS discovery and one of LINEAR's have low-rated impact solutions.) Another seven small asteroids were tracked during the week, and one was reported from the week before. This work was performed by 26 amateur and professional observatories around the world.

The week began with only one known small asteroid Earth flyby at less than ten lunar distances (LD) during June — 2004 LO2 at 8.5 LD on Monday, but 2004 MR1 will be at 1.5 LD tomorrow and 2004 MC at 3.5 LD June 29th.

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What’s so big about “small objects”? If an asteroid’s orbit brings it to within 0.05 astronomical units (AU) of Earth's orbit, it is categorized as “potentially hazardous” unless it has an absolute magnitude H greater than 22.0, which corresponds to a diameter on the order of 135 meters/yards. Larger H means less bright, thus smaller size. And 0.05 AU is about 19.5 times the distance between Earth and Moon (0.00256 AU). To be discovered and tracked, such objects usually must come close (a few are Earth’s nearest neighbors, coming closer than the Moon). They are exposed samplings of distant asteroid populations, they have within their own population tomorrow’s meteors, and their discovery and follow-up represents today’s best amateur and professional asteroid observing work. Diameter & Earth MOID: In the following observation summary table, the stated diameters are rough best estimates from a standard but very inexact H-to-size formula using H (absolute magnitude, or brightness) from the JPL NEO Orbital Elements page, source also for Earth MOID (minimum orbital intersection distance). Current Minor Planet Center H is also given, along with the original H from each object's discovery MPEC. Other sources: Planetary MOIDs are from Lowell Observatory. Priorities and visibilities are from the European Spaceguard Central Node (SCN). And flyby distances and times are from the JPL Close Approach Table. See also the Sormano Observatory SAEL list of asteroids with H>22.0 and Earth MOID<0.015 AU.

Small objects – panel 2/2 (table)

Major News for 20 June 2004

Small object observation summary for 14-20 June

H = absolute magnitude (brightness), from which size is roughly estimated — m/yd = meters/yards — [cross index]
All objects had observations reported last week. Those on a light-blue background had observations from only before the week.

Object	Estimated diameter	JPL H	MPC H	Discovery H in MPEC	Earth MOID	European Spaceguard Central Node priority/visibility/campaign
2004 LX5 Amor	26 m/yd	25.59	25.6	25.6 2004-L53	0.01357 AU	Urgent, visibility ends 25 June
2004 LX5 Amor	NEW: The day 2004 LX5 flew past Earth at 6.9 lunar distances (LD), June 12th, it was discovered by LINEAR, which confirmed it the next day in observations spanning 1.18 hours. It was announced in MPEC 2004-L53 of 14 June and hasn't been reported since. It has an MOID of 0.008 AU with Mars.
2004 MR1 Apollo	31 m/yd	25.21	25.6	25.6 2004-M28	0.00101 AU
2004 MR1 Apollo	NEW: 2004 MR1 was discovered on 18 June by LINEAR, was confirmed on 18 June by Sormano Obs., and Obs. Astronomico de Mallorca (OAM), and on 19 June by Wykrota Obs., LINEAR, Table Mountain Obs., and Grasslands Obs., and was announced in MPEC 2004-M28 of 19 June. This object was also observed on 18 June by Sormano Obs. It will fly past Earth at 1.5 LD on June 21st, and it has an MOID of 0.014 AU with Mars.
2004 LA10 Amor	34 m/yd	24.96	25.0	24.7 2004-L66	0.02978 AU	Necessary, visibility ends 13 July
2004 LA10 Amor	NEW: 2004 LA10 was discovered on 14 June by FMO Project online volunteer Ken Pavitt in images from the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope (see report). It was confirmed on 14 June by Ondrejov Obs., Great Shefford Obs., OAM, Sabino Canyon Obs., Tenagra II Obs., and Robert Hutsebaut via New Mexico Skies, and was announced in MPEC 2004-L66 of 15 June. See the cover above for confirmation imagery. This object was also observed on 14 June with the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope, on 15 June by Three Buttes Obs., and on 18 June by Desert Moon Obs. And Great Shefford observed it on 15, 16, 19, and 20 June. This object will fly past Earth at 13.5 LD on June 24th, and has an MOID of 0.009 AU with Mars.
2004 LO2 Aten	38 m/yd	24.77	25.0	24.8 2004-L47	0.01326 AU
2004 LO2 Aten	2004 LO2 was observed on 13 June by Great Shefford Obs. and on 13-15 June by Tenagra II Obs. On 17 June, before being removed from the SCN Priority List, that page noted 2004 LO2's visibility as ending on the 19th. It flew past Earth at 8.5 LD on June 14th.
2004 MP1 Apollo	41 m/yd	24.60	25.1	25.1 2004-M26	0.02509 AU
2004 MP1 Apollo	NEW: 2004 MP1 flew past Earth at 14.3 LD on June 15th and was discovered on the 17th by LINEAR. It was confirmed on 18 June by LINEAR and on 19 June by Table Mountain Obs. and Grasslands Obs., and was announced in MPEC 2004-M26 of 19 June.
2004 MN1 Apollo	42 m/yd	24.52	24.6	24.6 2004-M24	0.01708 AU
2004 MN1 Apollo	NEW: 2004 MN1 was discovered on 16 June by LINEAR, which confirmed it the next day, and it was announced in MPEC 2004-M24 of 19 June. It flew past Earth at 11.6 LD on June 17th.
2004 LC Apollo	50 m/yd	24.16	24.4	24.4 2004-L15	0.01306 AU	Necessary, visibility ends 8 July
2004 LC Apollo	2004 LC was observed on 13-15 June by Tenagra II Obs.
2004 LV Apollo	59 m/yd	23.80	24.1	24.2 2004-L27	0.02520 AU
2004 LV Apollo	2004 LV was reported this past week as observed on 12 June by Tenagra II Obs. See last week's report for more about this object.
2004 KN10 Amor	64 m/yd	23.63	23.5	23.5 2004-K45	0.10076 AU	Necessary, visibility ends 15 July
2004 KN10 Amor	2004 KN10 was observed on 14 June by Tenagra II Obs.
2004 JN1 Apollo	69 m/yd	23.45	23.7	23.6 2004-J48	0.02336 AU	Useful, visibility ends 13 July
2004 JN1 Apollo	2004 JN1 was observed on 17 June with the Australian Natl. Univ. (ANU) Obs. 1m telescope.
2004 LB1 Apollo	75 m/yd	23.27	23.3	23.1 2004-L30	0.03332 AU	Necessary, visibility ends 9 July
2004 LB1 Apollo	2004 LB1 was observed on 13 June by Tenagra II Obs. and on 14 June by Reedy Creek Obs.
2004 MO1 Amor	78 m/yd	23.20	23.3	23.3 2004-M25	0.06881 AU
2004 MO1 Amor	NEW: 2004 MO1 was discovered on 17 June by FMOP online volunteer Lawrence Garrett in images from the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope (see report), which tracked it the next day for an hour. It was further confirmed on 19 June by Grasslands Obs. and Table Mountain Obs., and was announced in MPEC 2004-M25 of 19 June. This object was also observed on 19 June with the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope. It was at 34.2 LD on June 17th.
2004 MC Apollo has VIs	83 m/yd	23.05	23.3	23.3 2004-M07	0.00741 AU	Necessary, visibility ends 27 July
2004 MC Apollo has VIs	NEW: 2004 MC was discovered on 16 June by LINEAR, was linked to LINEAR observations of 15 June, and was confirmed on 16 June by Herrenberg Obs. and Great Shefford Obs., and on 17 June by Three Buttes Obs., Table Mountain Obs., Grasslands Obs., and Hutsebaut/NM Skies. It was announced in MPEC 2004-M07 of 17 June. This object was also observed on 17 June by LINEAR and Naef Obs., on 18 June by LINEAR, Consell Obs., and Sormano Obs., and on 19 June by Madison-YRS Obs. It will fly past Earth at 3.6 LD on June 29th, and has an MOID of 0.030 AU with Mars.
2004 LK Amor	94 m/yd	22.79	22.8	22.7 2004-L22	0.06884 AU	Necessary, visibility ends 10 Oct.
2004 LK Amor	2004 LK was observed on 13 June by NEAT/Palomar and on 14 June by Desert Moon Obs, and it was followed 13-15 June by Tenagra II Obs. and 15-17 June with the ANU 1m telescope. On July 7th it will be at 29.9 LD.
2004 LB2 Apollo	127 m/yd	22.13	22.3	22.4 2004-L34	0.00958 AU
2004 LB2 Apollo	2004 LB2 was observed 12-14 June by LINEAR, 13 June by Tenagra II Obs., and 15 June by Great Shefford Obs. On 16 June, before being removed from the SCN Priority List, that page noted 2004 LB2's visibility as ending on the 18th. It flew past Earth at 16.3 LD on June 14th and has an MOID of 0.016 AU with Venus.
2004 MS1 Apollo has VI	129 m/yd	22.10	22.1	22.1 2004-M29	0.00604 AU
2004 MS1 Apollo has VI	NEW: 2004 MS1 flew past Earth at 7.2 LD on June 13th and was discovered on the 18th by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS). It was confirmed that day by Great Shefford Obs. and Andrushivka Obs., and on 19 June by JATE Asteroid Survey, Grasslands Obs., Hutsebaut/NM Skies, LINEAR, Francisquito Obs., CSS, and Table Mountain Obs., and was announced in MPEC 2004-M29 of June 19th.
2004 KH17 Aten	139 m/yd	21.93	22.1	21.8 2004-K76	0.00394 AU	Necessary, visibility ends 23 June
2004 KH17 Aten	2004 KH17 was observed on 14 June by Tenagra II Obs.

Small object observation cross index [table top]

Object	Observed by MPC code
2004 JN1	413
2004 KH17	926
2004 KN10	926
2004 LA10	448, 557, 620, 691, 854, 926, G90, H06 & J95
2004 LB1	428 & 926
2004 LB2	704, 926 & J95
2004 LC	926
2004 LK	413, 448, 644 & 926
2004 LO2	926 & J95
2004 LV	926
2004 LX5	704
2004 MC	176, 240, 587, 651, 673, 704, 927, A13, G90, H06 & J95
2004 MN1	704
2004 MO1	651, 673 & 691
2004 MP1	651, 673 & 704
2004 MR1	587, 620, 651, 673, 704 & 859
2004 MS1	461, 651, 673, 703, 704, A50, G70, H06 & J95

Code	Observatory	Objects observed (days)
176	Consell Obs.	2004 MC
240	Herrenberg Obs.	2004 MC
413	Australian Natl. Univ. (ANU) Obs. 1m telescope	2004 JN1 & 2004 LK(3)
428	Reedy Creek Obs.	2004 LB1
448	Desert Moon Obs.	2004 LA10 & 2004 LK
461	JATE Asteroid Survey	2004 MS1
557	Ondrejov Obs.	2004 LA10
587	Sormano Obs.	2004 MC & 2004 MR1(2)
620	Obs. Astron. de Mallorca	2004 LA10 & 2004 MR1
644	NEAT/Palomar	2004 LK
651	Grasslands Obs.	2004 MC, 2004 MO1, 2004 MP1, 2004 MR1 & 2004 MS1
673	Table Mountain Obs.	2004 MC, 2004 MO1, 2004 MP1, 2004 MR1 & 2004 MS1
691	Spacewatch 0.9m telescope	2004 LA10(2) & 2004 MO1(3)
703	Catalina Sky Survey (CSS)	2004 MS1(2)
704	LINEAR	2004 LB2(3), 2004 LX5(2), 2004 MC(4), 2004 MN1(2), 2004 MP1(2), 2004 MR1(2) & 2004 MS1
854	Sabino Canyon Obs.	2004 LA10
859	Wykrota Obs.	2004 MR1
926	Tenagra II Obs.	2004 KH17, 2004 KN10, 2004 LA10, 2004 LB1, 2004 LB2(2), 2004 LC(3), 2004 LK(3), 2004 LO2(3) & 2004 LV
927	Madison-YRS Obs.	2004 MC
A13	Naef Obs.	2004 MC
A50	Andrushivka Obs.	2004 MS1
G70	Francisquito Obs.	2004 MS1
G90	Three Buttes Obs.	2004 LA10 & 2004 MC
H06	Robert Hutsebaut/New Mexico Skies	2004 LA10, 2004 MC & 2004 MS1
J95	Great Shefford Obs.	2004 LA10(5), 2004 LB2, 2004 LO2, 2004 MC & 2004 MS1

News briefs – panel 1/2

Major News for 20 June 2004

News briefs

Meteor news: A Springfield, Missouri News-Leader article from yesterday tells of reports of a large explosion Friday at “around 9:20 a.m.,” or “two thunderous explosions a split second apart,” possibly associated with a “smoke trail.” Quarry blasting and sonic booms seem to have been ruled out.

The meteorite that fell through a roof in Auckland last Saturday morning (news thread) may be put on tour around New Zealand along with parts of the house, according to a Stuff.co.nz article today. It reports that the owners “have rejected offers of up to $US20,000 for the 1.3kg grapefruit-sized rock.” Another article at the same site, dated tomorrow, comments that meteorites “have become the latest ‘must-have’ household necessity for homeowners convinced their doorstop or garden ornament is actually a centuries old space rock.”

The Calgary Sun tells today that the Summer 2004 Prairie Meteorite Search begins this week “to identify the meteorites that farmers and ranchers — or

Cover details: The “cover” images above come from an OAM 0.30-m f/9 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (12 exposures), Great Sheffield's 0.30m f/6.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain (45 26-second exposures), and a Rent-a-scope 0.25m telescope at New Mexico Skies (30 10-second exposures).

Peter Birtwhistle writes: Take a look at the OAM and my images. The field is the same, and you can see the effect of parallax putting 2004 LA10 above a star on the OAM image and below for mine, from higher northern latitude.

anyone, for that matter — have found” around Alberta, Canada.

The Prairie Meteorite Search Web site has news items dated June 10th and 14th about newly announced finds. The first is about the Belly River Buttes meteorite from Alberta found in 1992 (see June 11th news), and the other tells about two meteorites found near Bernic Lake in Manitoba in 2002 (see April 26th news).

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