17 March 2005 - Thursday

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Intruder:  LINEAR discovery AT72198 (subsequently officially designated 2005 FN, see news) has got the Minor Planet Mailing list (MPML) talking, since it appears that it could be an incoming object. Tim Spahr at the Minor Planet Center told the list at 0044 UTC on the 18th: "Nice object... 5 positions, very bright. Good fit bringing the object to about 0.0009 AU in 15+ hours from now. Will be interesting to see how good this prediction is. I was fairly careful with the uncertainty map. Impact is ruled out already."
      A distance of 0.0009 AU converts to about 0.35 lunar distance or 21.1 Earth radii, outside the GPS constellation and geostationary satellite ring [corrected–Ed.].
      This object was added to the MPC NEO Confirmation Page (NEOCP) at "Mar. 17.89 UT" with discovery in New Mexico noted as being from this morning, at "Mar. 17.4 UT." But Brian Skiff at LONEOS in Arizona told the list tonight, "Observers should note that the US Southwest is generally cloudy, so don't expect follow-up from these parts."
      It was Reiner Stoss who first brought this object to the MPML's attention, as was also the case with a somewhat similar situation with AL00667 = 2004 AS1 in January of last year (see the A/CC news index).

Pasquale Tricarico tells A/CC that he sent the following message to the MPML at 0113 UTC 18 March. At last check it still has not been released to list members, so herewith now for the attention of NEO observers:

“ This object will pass very close to the Earth. In the last few months, I've studied the possibility of a NEA being eclipsed by the Earth or the Moon, detecting several events in the past and a few in the future (paper in the works, can send draft to interested people), and it would be nice to do a "real-time" prediction for this asteroid. As soon as observations and/or the nominal orbit will be available for this object, it will be possible to check if it will be eclipsed by the Earth or the Moon. A direct observation of a total asteroid eclipse and/or the magnitude measurements during the penumba cone crossing period could be used to drastically improve the object's orbit. Please send me the available data and I'll check for a possible eclipse asap. ”

For the record: This news item was first posted at 0442 UTC 18 March (9:42pm MST on the 17th). A correction was posted at 0508 UTC, and an update at 0601 UTC.

FMOP news:  MPEC 2005-F21 today announces the discovery of 2005 FJ yesterday morning UT by FMO Project volunteer Robert Klein of Maryland, who was reviewing images online from the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope in Arizona. It was confirmed from the same telescope four and a half hours later and again this morning, and also this morning by the Mt. Lemmon Survey. This is Klein's second confirmed discovery, in addition to unconfirmeds earlier this month and a year ago. 2005 FJ is roughly estimated from its brightness to be about 40 meters/yards wide, and JPL is showing that is flew past the Earth at 21.1 lunar distances on March 11th.

Risk monitoring:  JPL has posted with impact solutions three objects whose discoveries were announced today: 2005 EJ225 (MPEC 2005-F19), 2005 FF (MPECs 2005-F11 and 2005-F17), and 2005 FH (MPEC 2005-F15). 2005 FF and FH were discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona early yesterday UT. 2005 FF was confirmed by Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand yesterday, Gnosca Observatory in Switzerland last night, and Sabino Canyon Observatory in Arizona this morning. And 2005 FH was confirmed this morning by Modra Observatory in Slovakia, Sabino Canyon, and Farpoint Observatory in Kansas. This object is estimated by JPL at just under 850 meters/yards wide.
      The 2005 FF announcement was followed 21 minutes later by a second MPEC equating this object with 1998 FF14, which was discovered on 24 March 1998 by LINEAR in New Mexico (MPEC 1998-F32). JPL puts its diameter estimate at roughly 270 meters.
      2005 EJ225 was discovered by the CSS Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona on the morning of the 14th, and was confirmed only by itself in observations early yesterday and today. The JPL diameter estimated for this object is on the order of 640 meters.
      Today's Daily Orbit Update (DOU) MPEC reports the observation of two objects that have been missing from risk monitoring reports since January. Positions coded to David Tholen are reported from Mauna Kea from March 4th for 2004 VD17, and Mt. John Observatory picked up 2004 XP14 yesterday. 2004 VD17 had been last reported on January 28th, and was predicted to go out of view for most observers on February 5th. Today JPL slightly lowered its rather high risk ratings for this half-kilometer object.
      2004 XP14 was last reported on January 11th (report). Only JPL still had this object (somewhat smaller than 2004 VD17) listed with impact solutions, and today it removed all of those.
      The DOU also reports positions for 2005 EW169 from Mt. John yesterday. It is another object that only JPL still has listed, and today JPL slightly lowered its overall risk ratings for impact solutions that are all well beyond the NEODyS 2080 time horizon.
      And the DOU has observations of 2005 EU2 from Jornada Observatory in New Mexico early this morning. JPL in two assessment updates today slightly lowered its risk assessment for this small object, but increased its solution count from 24 to 66.
      The extra workload imposed by having so much risk monitoring data to process may be causing some kind of delay at NEODyS, which at last check, after 8pm in Pisa, hasn't updated any risk assessments yet today. A/CC had some technical difficulty and other delays of its own in getting the CRT page updated earlier today, and further updating will only be sporadic from afternoon to evening here (MST) due to a time conflict. But, generally speaking, for the latest risk assessment details, and to find links to more information, always keep an eye on the CRT page.

Update: By midnight UTC, NEODyS has posted 2005 ED224 as a risk (see news below about its discovery), and has updated its risk assessments for 2004 VD17 and 2005 EU2, slightly lowering overall risk ratings for both.
      JPL has now removed 2005 FF as a risk, and has revised its 2004 VD17 risk assessment very slightly upward.

16 March 2005 - Wednesday

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Bits & pieces:  Franceco Manca at Sormano Observatory tells A/CC that "2005 FA (see MPEC 2005-F09) ... on March 19, 2005 at 0600 UTC will pass at 0.005977 AU or about 894,000 Km. from the Earth (2.3 lunar distances)." This object was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona early today and confirmed by Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand and Wildberg Observatory in Germany tonight. From its absolute magnitude of H=25.0, it is roughly estimated at about 35 meters/yards wide. With that and an Earth minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) calculated at 0.0048 AU (1.9 LD), 2005 FA qualifies for Sormano's SAEL list of close neighbors (H>22.0, MOID < 0.015 AU) that would be categorized as potentially hazardous if not so small.
      MPEC 2005-F08 today reported the recovery of comet 141P/Machholz by Michael Jaeger in Austria with one position from the night of February 27th, and today by Ageo Observatory in Japan with a set of three positions. The MPEC notes that "This appears to be component A." See the Cometography 141P/Machholz 2 page to learn about the history of this comet, which was observed to be in at least five fragments at the time of its discovery in 1994. The A and D pieces were observed again in 1999, and they are on the JPL Near-Earth Comets list with MOIDs of 0.1055 and 0.1078 AU respectively (beyond 41 LD). The MPEC puts perihelion for this fragment on the 28th of last month at 0.7528 AU.

Risk monitoring:  JPL has posted as a risk 2005 ED224, which was announced today in MPEC 2005-F06 as discovered by LINEAR in New Mexico on the morning of March 13th, and confirmed the next morning by Sabino Canyon Observatory in Arizona and this morning by the Mt. Lemmon Survey, part of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. JPL puts this object's estimated diameter on the order of 54 meters/yards, and is showing that it passed Earth at 10.1 lunar distances on March 9th.
      Today's Daily Orbit Update MPEC reports observation of 2005 EW169 by Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand yesterday. Today NEODyS removed its impact solutions for this object, while JPL cut its count of solutions by more than half and slightly lowered its overall risk ratings.

15 March 2005 - Tuesday

MOS on the Web | comet news | bits & pieces | risk monitoring | index | << ^^ >> | top

MOS on the Web – Minor object science reporting elsewhere:

  Deep Space Network Array project

• "NASA antennas could be located in New Mexico," AP wire story at KOB-TV Albuquerque, New Mexico 15 March: "[Officials] are considering two sites next to White Sands Missile Range."
• "NASA communications systems overhaul may affect Goldstone," Victorville, California Daily Press 10 March article: "[A] handful of 70-meter and 30-meter antennas ... [would be replaced] with a field of 400 tightly packed smaller antennas that would measure 12 meters each in diameter ... as powerful as one gigantic 240-meter dish." Also at the Desert Dispatch 10 March.
• "Goldstone eyed for space project," San Bernardino County, California Daily Sun 9 March article: "NASA is looking at Goldstone as well as potential sites in Arizona and New Mexico."
• "Nasa eyes two SA sites for new space probe," Independent of South Africa 18 Feb. article: " 'We've had serious interest expressed in South Africa by Nasa for what they call their Deep Space Array Network. The competing country is Spain.'—Deputy Science and Technology Minister"
• See also NASA/JPL Deep Space Network (DSN) and technical articles published in the IPN Progress Report.

  Impact science

• "March-April GSA Bulletin media highlights," Geological Society of America news item at EurekAlert 14 March, includes "3D seismic reflection mapping of the Silverpit multi-ringed crater, North Sea": "An enigmatic crater several kilometers in diameter, buried hundreds of meters below the seabed of the North Sea, has ... for the first time ... been thoroughly mapped in three dimensions, revealing detail of a spectacular set of ring structures around the 3-km-diameter central hole. This new work has reduced the chances that this structure can be explained by a terrestrial cause, leaving meteor impact as the leading contender. Perfect preservation of this structure, together with the detailed imaging, means that this complex type of impact structure, previously best known from the moons of Jupiter, can now be studied on our doorstep."
• "Fossil Records Show Biodiversity Comes and Goes," Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 14 March news release: "Biodiversity appears to rise and fall in mysterious cycles of 62 million years for which science has no satisfactory explanation." — And the last extinction peak came 65 million years ago. On his home page, Richard Muller says he "was misquoted in a newspaper account" and that he has "not abandoned the Nemesis idea" (see March 13th news).

Comet news:  MPEC 2005-E87 today shows again that not all SOHO-discovered comets are on their final dive into the Sun. It announces the discovery of C/2005 E4 (SOHO) by online observer Rainer Kracht and says that "quite likely [it] is identical" with C/1999 N5. A comet group has been identified that includes C/1999 J6, which has been proposed to be identical with C/2004 V9, and which is believed to have split from C/1999 N5 near perihelion around 1993 Nov. 20-22. That split may also have resulted in C/1999 U2, which is conditionally predicted to "return to perihelion within a few days of 2005 Oct. 8." Other group member candidates are C/1999 P6, C/1999 P8, and C/1999 P9. Brian Marsden's narrative explaining his conclusions makes this an unusually interesting read for an MPEC.
      The SOHO comet discovery chat page today brought the tally of SOHO comets up to 924, with Kracht and Mike Oates tied at 144 each for the most discoveries.
      MPEC 2005-E84 yesterday announced the latest ground-based comet discovery, C/2005 E2 (McNaught). The earliest observation is shown coming from Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) in Australia on March 12th. It is a distant object, preliminarily predicted to come to perihelion on the 13th of April 2006 at 3.01 AU from the Sun.

Bits & pieces:  The ESA Research & Science Suppord Department (RSSD) has posted a "Rosetta Earth Swing-By 1" gallery of images from participating observatories.
      Today's Daily Orbit Update MPEC reports radar observation of NEA 3908 Nyx on 15-19 November last year from Arecibo in Puerto Rico.
      Arnie Rosner put out a news item today announcing that "Andrew Lowe of Calgary, Alberta, Canada has discovered 41 new asteroids since joining ICRAR [working over the Internet] approximately 1600 miles from the observatory (H06) which is located in Mayhill, New Mexico."
      MPEC 2005-E54 of March 10th reports the recovery of 2002 TW55 that morning and two mornings earlier by Robert McMillan at the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope in Arizona. This PHO is estimated from its brightness to be a bit wider than 800 meters/yards. It has an eccentric (e=0.66373) and very inclined (i=59.4°) orbit, and was briefly listed with impact solutions from the 4th until the 11th of October 2002.

Risk monitoring:  The only news to report today in risk monitoring is that NEODyS has posted 2005 EW169, about which see more below.

14 March 2005 - Monday

MOS on the Web | risk monitoring | index | << ^^ >> | top

MOS on the Web – Minor object science reporting elsewhere:

  Pacific Northwest event

• "Camera Catches Fireball In Oregon Sky," KNBC-TV Burbank, California 14 March news item: links to video & slide show
• "Meteor video could fetch paycheck," Medford, Oregon 14 March article: "A Talent woman whose children videotaped a flaming object in the sky Saturday figures it could be riches from heaven... Dan Tilkin ... said his station was interested in verifying Greico’s footage with meteor experts for possible use."
• "A meteor, an outage, a quake, all in a night," Seattle, Washington Post-Intelligencer 14 March article
• See much more about this event in yesterday's news.

  Mission news

• Moonrise for Rosetta at 2206 UTC on 4 March 2005. Image ©Copyright ESA.

  "Report on Earth Flyby," Rosetta status report of 14 March for 25 Feb.-11 March: "The Earth swing-by operations [were all] successful, with the exception of a problem in configuring the link between Camera B and the on-board Mass Memory... After closest approach with the Earth ... the spacecraft was commanded ... into Asteroid Flyby Mode, using the Navigation Camera pointed on the Moon to control the attitude. This was the first and only in-flight test opportunity for this mode, which will be used operationally during the actual flyby of the asteroids Steins in 2008 and Lutetia in 2010. The test lasted 9 hours and was fully successful."
• "No room for error for controller of Hayabusa space probe," Asahi Shimbun 4 March article: "This summer, it looks like Nakamura may be in for more sweaty palms. Hayabusa will be arriving at the asteroid to collect samples from its surface before returning to the Earth."
• New Horizon's "PI's Perspective" of 2 March: "We are now approaching the time — only weeks away — when the last avionics box goes on the spacecraft and New Horizons is dressed in thermal blankets for environmental testing in a large vacuum chamber at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center."

  Dark skies

• "New bills contain treats, tricks," Arkansas News Bureau 13 March story: "Some other last-minute bills of interest: HB 2665 by Rep. Sam Ledbetter, D-Little Rock. Ledbetter's 'night sky protection act' was the butt of jokes in the last regular Legislative session, but he's back again with another bill to reduce light pollution."
• "Wal-Mart pledges to prevent light pollution," Twin Falls, Idaho Times-News 13 March article: "[The observatory director] plans to contact Wal-Mart and the Twin Falls City Council to make sure the proposed store would use dark sky-friendly lighting, even though the city does not have a lighting ordinance."
• "Intelligent Street Lights Coming to Alberta," news release at ArriveNet 11 March: "Streetlight Intelligence Inc. ... announced today that is has entered into a pilot project with a major distribution utility in Alberta to demonstrate its energy and maintenance saving technology for street lights."
• Far down in a Las Vegas, Nevada Mercury March 10th column, under "Names and faces," is this: "An attempt by the Las Vegas Centennial Commission to get a star named for Las Vegas was nixed by NASA, sources say. The space agency regards our city as a major source of 'light pollution' so it nixed the honor of naming a star for us. However, local officials are not easily deterred, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear soon that NASA might assign us a namesake asteroid." — Shhh, but 82332 Las Vegas (2001 LV6) was in the January 27th namings (news), presumably named by the discoverer, JPL/NASA's NEAT program.
• "Light pollution becoming problem" and "City council to vote on business lights ordinance," Lincoln, Nebraska Journal Star 7 and 12 March articles: "The Lincoln City Council will vote Monday on ordinance changes that would keep businesses' lights from shining too brightly onto neighborhoods."
• "An astronomer's nightmare and public nuisance," Staunton, Virginia News Leader 6 March column: "Augusta County could become the tenth county in Virginia to pass a lighting ordinance [but...]"
• "Starry, starry fight threatens dark skies," Phoenix Arizona Republic 6 March article: "[The] Legislature is considering two bills that threaten our dark skies. House Bills 2461 and 2462 would loosen the rules on billboards, opening the way to large, extremely bright electronic signs." — See also a response from HB 2461's author posted March 12th.
• "Request for brighter outside lights rejected," San Diego, California Union Tribune 4 March: "The City Council has unanimously rejected a company's request to replace 17 yellow-orange outdoor lights with [high-pressure sodium lights]... Poway has a 20-year-old agreement with [Palomar Observatory] that requires all outdoor lighting in the city that is in use from 11 p.m. to dawn to be of the low-pressure sodium variety."
• "House rejects astronomy protections," AP wire story at KOLD-TV Tucson, Arizona 3 March: "The Republican-led House rejected three Democratic amendments to limit the size and locations of the so-called variable message signs. One by Representative Ted Downing of Tucson would have prohibited the signs within 80 miles of a major observatory."
• "Skies about to get darker for astronomers," ABC Australia 2 March: "The Orana Regional Development Plan is being updated and with it an extension of what is called the 'dark skies region' around [Siding Spring Observatory]. It is planned to expand the radius from 16 kilometres to 200."
• "Request for high-pressure sodium lights denied," North County Times, (San Diego) California 2 March article: "[The Sysco executive] believes a mixture of high-pressure and low-pressure lights might be the solution he and [Palomar Observatory] are looking for."

  Other news

• "Superglue of planet formation: sticky ice," Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) 9 March news release: "Micron-wide dust particles encrusted with molecularly gluey ice enabled planets to bulk up like dirty snowballs quickly enough to overcome the scattering force of solar winds... Cowin and colleagues further speculate that similar electrical forces, minus the fluffy cushioning, were at work during the infancy of hotter inner planets like Earth, involving silicate dust grains instead of ice." — Note: The U.S. Department of Energy's PNNL is a merger this year of the former Argonne National Laboratory-West and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL).
• NEO Fuel — No news but a very interesting Web site with occasional additions from Anthony Zuppero, formerly with INEEL.
• "Steven Beckwith: Q&A with Hubble's Biggest Booster," Space.com 7 March article

Risk monitoring:  JPL has posted 2005 EW169, the discovery of which was announced today in MPEC 2005-E80 as found on the morning of March 11th by the Mt. Lemmon Survey, part of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, and confirmed yesterday with the same telescope and by Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand. JPL estimates this object's diameter at roughly half a kilometer (0.32 mile).
      Today's Daily Orbit Update MPEC reports observation of 2005 EU2 from Great Shefford Observatory in England Saturday night and the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona early yesterday UT. Today NEODyS and JPL slightly lowered their risk assessments. Both cut their count of impact solutions, especially JPL, which went from 108 to 24, which is way down from 534 solutions back when this small object was first posted on March 5th.