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Contents  on 14 May '07

• Minor-Object News -- six items
• Minor-Object Science -- one paper
• IAU Minor Planet Center
  • NEOCP Activity -- two listings: 2 updated
  • New MPECs -- five MPECs
  • Observers -- 30 observing facilities
• Impact Risk Monitoring -- one object reported
• Chronology

WELCOME to A/CC's prototype daily news publication designed to be the viewing end of a planned autonomous 24-hour news service. The new tools and this publication format are working well enough now to share with readers. It is expected that this approach will require less time to maintain than our previous news and small asteroid pages, which were retired on May 14th. There's still more development ahead and there probably will be some glitches along the way, but this is what's needed to keep up with the increasing pace of minor-object news. The CRT page will be maintained separately for a little while longer, until all of this is working smoothly. And the CRT and small-asteroid ephemerides will be kept going.

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Minor-Object News  on 14 May '07

• "No-propellant drive prepares for space and beyond," Eureka UK 14 May - Quote: "One serious consideration is to develop the technology so that it could be used gently to divert a large asteroid in danger of colliding with the Earth."
• "Deep Space Manoeuvre 3," ESA Rosetta mission 14 May - Quote: "A recovery activity for the Lander instrument MUPUS (MUlti-PUrpose Sensors for Surface and Sub-Surface Science) failed and will be re-attempted before the Near Sun Hibernation phase. The Lander Radio Frequency (RF) test was conducted according to the plan."
• "Meteor impact, extinction linked," Times Colonist 14 May - Quote: "A comet or some other extraterrestrial object appears to have slammed into northern Canada 12,900 years ago... Evidence of the ecological disaster exists in a thin layer of sediment that has been found from Alberta to New Mexico."
• "DHS team wins spot in NASA contest," Durango Herald 14 May - Quote: "The Durango entry was a 40-page illustrated proposal for a space colony of 10,000 inhabitants in the Asteroid Belt."
• "De-orbiting Hubble Preferred Over Servicing," Aviation Week 14 May - Quote: "Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute ... told a Capitol Hill breakfast May 11 that one more servicing mission may be all scientists will want to give Hubble."
• New comet: When the discovery of an asteroidal object is announced with a path nearly perpendicular to Earth's orbit, it's a pretty good bet that it will eventually prove to be a comet. LINEAR discovery 2007 JA21 was announced in MPEC 2007-J53 at the end of the day on May 12th as having an inclination of 88.26°. And MPEC 2007-J55 (see below) this morning published further observations for the now redesignated C/2007 JA21 (LINEAR). This comet is calculated to come no closer to the Sun than the distance between Jupiter and the Sun.

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Minor-Object Science  on 14 May '07

• "Growth and migration of solids in evolving protostellar disks I: Methods and Analytical tests" by P. Garaud, abstract & PDF at arXiv.org 14 May - Quote: "Consistency with observation of the total mass of solids in the Minimum Solar Nebula augmented with the mass of the Oort cloud sets strong upper limit on the initial grain size distribution."

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NEOCP Activity  on 14 May '07

The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 2 listings: 2 updated

When last checked at 2345 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's NEO discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had two updated listings. Of these, one was a "one nighter." Major News counted a total of fourteen objects listed on the NEOCP at some point on this day.

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New MPECs  on 14 May '07

Minor Planet Electronic Circulars

There were five MPECs issued this day from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• MPEC 2007-J55 time-stamped "02:01 UT" - Comet C/2007 JA21 (LINEAR) - see below
• MPEC 2007-J56 time-stamped "06:08 UT" - Daily Orbit Update - see below
• MPEC 2007-J57 time-stamped "10:42 UT" - 2007 JF22 - see below
• MPEC 2007-J58 time-stamped "10:44 UT" - 2007 JG22 - see below
• MPEC 2007-J59 time-stamped "10:47 UT" - 2007 JH22

MPEC 2007-J59 - "10:47 UT" - 2007 JH22

• K07J22H   2007 JH22 (H=21.4 ~178m) was discovered at 0834 UT 12 May by LINEAR, which observed it at May 12.36-40p5 and 13.34-38p9. The discovery was confirmed by Farra d'Isonzo Obs. (May 13.91p2), Modra Obs. (May 14.05p3), Powell Obs. (May 14.12-13p3), Sabino Canyon Obs. (May 14.32-33p3), and Sandlot Obs. (May 14.37-39p4).

MPEC 2007-J58 - "10:44 UT" - 2007 JG22

• K07J22G   2007 JG22 (Q=4.440 AU, H=21.3 ~186m) was discovered at 0637 UT 12 May by the Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS), which observed it at May 12.28-35p8 at V=22.2 and 13.26-27p4. The discovery was confirmed by Jim Young via Table Mtn. Obs. (May 14.21-23p4).

MPEC 2007-J57 - "10:42 UT" - 2007 JF22

• K07J22F   2007 JF22 (Q=6.222 AU, H=16.2 ~1.95 km) was discovered at 0405 UT 12 May by LINEAR, which observed it at May 12.17-21p5. The discovery was confirmed by McDonald Obs. (May 13.11-12p3 & 14.11-12p3), Sandlot Obs. (May 13.13-14p3), Young/Table Mtn. (May 13.15-16p4 & 14.18-20p4), LAMP Obs. (May 13.18-19p3), the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) (May 13.18-19p4), Sabino Canyon Obs. (May 13.26-27p3), Bisei Spaceguard Center (Bisei) (May 13.53-55p8), Farra d'Isonzo Obs. (May 13.82-83p3), Remanzacco Obs. (May 13.82-85p3), Alter Satzberg Obs. (May 13.84-86p6), Modra Obs. (May 13.86-87p3), Silver Spring Obs. (May 14.09-12p2), Prude Ranch Obs. (May 14.14-17p3), and Powell Obs. (May 14.19-20p3).

<< DOU on 14 May '07 >>  MPEC 2007-J56 - "06:08 UT" - Daily Orbit Update

• Observations of risk-listed objects
• K07J20Z   2007 JZ20 (i=45.6°, arc=3 days, H=18.0 ~851m) from Montcabre Obs. (May 13.01-02p3), LINEAR (May 13.25-28p5), and Remanzacco Obs. (May 13.99-00p3)
• Observations of almost-small asteroids (21.7<H<=22.0)
• K07G03Q   2007 GQ3 (arc=17 days, H=22.0 ~135m) from Peschiera del Garda Obs. (April 26.85-87p3)
• Observations of other objects
• K07J02W   2007 JW2 (arc=6 days, H=18.1 ~812m) from LINEAR (May 13.30-33p4)
• K07H82X   2007 HX82 (Q=4.080 AU, arc=17 days, H=20.4 ~282m) from McDonald Obs. (May 13.31-32p3) and Desert Moon Obs. (May 13.37-40p3)
• K07F42V   2007 FV42 (arc=55 days, H=17.7 ~977m) from Frasso Sabino Obs. (May 12.91p6), Peschiera del Garda Obs. (May 12.97-00p4 & 13.95-97p3), New Millennium Obs. (May 13.00-03p4 & 13.07p1), MLS (May 13.39-41p4), Desert Moon Obs. (May 13.42p3), and Greiner Research Obs. (May 14.17-18p4)
• K07F01K   2007 FK1 (arc=57 days, H=20.2 ~309m) from Peschiera del Garda Obs. (April 26.89-92p4 & May 12.88-89p4), New Millennium Obs. (May 12.92-99p7), and Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (May 13.63-65p8)
• K07DA3T   2007 DT103 (arc=76 days, H=19.4 ~446m) from McDonald Obs. (May 13.13-16p3)
• K07D83B   2007 DB83 (arc=3 opp, H=18.3 ~741m) from Peschiera del Garda Obs. (May 10.83-86p4 & 13.88-90p4), CSS (May 13.21-23p3), and Greiner Research Obs. (May 14.13-15p10)
• K06X00A   2006 XA (arc=163 days, H=17.4 ~1.12 km) from Desert Moon Obs. (May 13.44-46p3)
• K06W02Z   2006 WZ2 (arc=2 opp, H=16.8 ~1.48 km) from McDonald Obs. (May 13.17-20p3)
• K06V02V   2006 VV2 (arc=2 opp, H=16.8 ~1.48 km) from Greens Norton Obs. (April 1.84p16) and North Ryde Obs. (May 12.48-49p2)
• K06H29R   2006 HR29 (arc=2 opp, H=20.6 ~257m) from the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) (May 13.53-56p4)
• K05W02R   2005 WR2 (arc=2 opp, H=19.3 ~467m) from SSS (May 13.50-52p4)
• K04E00C   2004 EC (q=0.280 AU, arc=3 opp, H=15.6 ~2.57 km) from CSS (May 13.26-28p4)
• K02K04F   2002 KF4 (i=37.2°, Q=4.571 AU, arc=3 opp, H=17.3 ~1.17 km) from Frasso Sabino Obs. (May 12.89p3)
• K01X10V   2001 XV10 (arc=4 opp, H=16.1 ~2.04 km, q=0.918 AU) from McDonald Obs. (May 13.24-26p3)
• J98U01L   1998 UL1 (i=42.0°, arc=5 opp, H=16.6 ~1.62 km) from Greiner Research Obs. (May 14.12-13p10)
• J79Q00B   1979 QB (arc=4 opp, H=17.1 ~1.29 km) from MLS (May 13.28-30p4)
• F4991   154991 2005 BX26 from SSS (May 13.53-56p4)
• F4453   154453 2003 CJ11 from New Millennium Obs. (May 12.86-90p6)
• F4007   154007 2002 BY from LINEAR (May 13.20-24p5)
• F2964   152964 2000 GP82 from McDonald Obs. (May 13.45-46p2)
• E5656   145656 4788 P-L from New Millennium Obs. (May 12.89-91p4)
• D7158   137158 1999 FB from MLS (May 13.29-30p4)
• D6900   136900 1998 HL49 from LINEAR (May 13.21-25p5)
• D6874   136874 1998 FH74 from Gualba Obs. (May 13.06-07p7)
• 89355   89355 2001 VS78 from CSS (May 13.45-46p4)
• 86829   86829 2000 GR146 from New Millennium Obs. (May 7.91-95p6, 8.90-96p8, 10.90-95p6 & 12.92-98p8) and Stammersdorf Obs. (May 12.91-92p4)
• 85275   85275 1994 LY from New Millennium Obs. (May 13.01-04p4)
• 40267   40267 1999 GJ4 from New Millennium Obs. (May 12.87-90p6)
• 06050   6050 Miwablock (1992 AE) from LINEAR (May 13.34-38p5)
• 05143   5143 Heracles (1991 VL) from SSS (May 13.78-80p4)
• 04947   4947 Ninkasi (1988 TJ1) from Purple Mtn. Obs. XuYi Station (May 13.61-69p4)

MPEC 2007-J55 - "02:01 UT" - Comet C/2007 JA21 (LINEAR)

• CK07J21A   C/2007 JA21 (LINEAR) (i=89.5°, q=5.455 AU, TP=2007 May 11.272 TT) from the Lulin Sky Survey (LUSS) (May 12.82p3), LINEAR (May 13.35-38p4), McDonald Obs. (May 13.38-41p3), and Remanzacco Obs. (May 13.92-96p3)

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Observers  on 14 May '07

A total of 30 observing facilities appeared in this day's MPECs.

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Impact Risk Monitoring  on 14 May '07

Legend: VI# = VI count, Prob Cum = cumulative probability, PS Cum/Max = cumulative/maximum Palermo Scale, TS = Torino Scale

For a list of all risk-rated objects recently in view, see our ephemerides page.

An impact solution, also known as a "virtual impactor" (VI), is not a prediction but rather a possibility derived from an orbit calculation that cannot be eliminated yet based on the existing data. Elimination can come quickly with just a little further observation or may take weeks or months, sometimes years. Once superceded or eliminated, a former impact solution has zero relevance to an object's risk. See Jon Giorgini's "Understanding Risk Pages" for more about all this.

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Chronology  on 14 May '07

Times are UTC for when the items were noted by Major News.