Contents on 5 June '07
- Minor-Object News -- four items
- Minor-Object Science -- three papers
- IAU Minor Planet Center
- NEOCP Activity -- two listings: 2 new
- New MPECs -- nine MPECs
- Observers -- three 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.
Minor-Object News on 5 June '07
- "Scientists have eyes on the moon," ScrippsNews 5 June - Quote: "[Hal] Levison and colleagues developed a model that suggests the solar system's planets migrated from entirely different orbits, triggering a hailstorm of asteroids or comets known as the Late Heavy Bombardment about 4 billion years ago. Many of the moon's craters could date from that era."
- "Meteorite to go on display in Wichita," Wichita Eagle 5 June - Quote: "Greensburg's newly appointed mayor, John Janssen ... said he wasn't sure where the treasured [1,000-pound pallasite] meteorite was. But because the City Council approved a contract with Exploration Place, he's sure he'll know where to find it very soon." - Note: That's the Brenham Meteorite.
- "UC stamps its mark," Univ. of Canterbury at Scoop.co.nz 5 June - Quote: "The set of five stamps, titled 'Southern Skies', was the brainchild of University of Canterbury astronomer Associate Professor Peter Cottrell and the stamps feature telescopes from UC's Mt John University Observatory at Tekapo in the Mackenzie Basin, South Canterbury."
- "Asteroid Impact, Biological Crises and Death of the Dinos," Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics at CNW Group 4 June - Quote: "Jay Melosh, Regents Professor of Planetary Science at the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona, in Tucson, will be in Canada on June 6th to examine past history and present day research into asteroid impacts on earth. He will be providing a Perimeter Institute Public Lecture on the subject to a sold out audience in Waterloo, Ontario."
Minor-Object Science on 5 June '07
- "Fraction of Contact Binary Trojan Asteroids" by Mann, Rita K. with David Jewitt & Pedro Lacerda, abstract & PDF at arXiv.org 5 June - Quote: "We present the results of an optical lightcurve survey of 114 Jovian Trojan asteroids conducted to determine the fraction of contact binaries ... estimated to be between 6% and 10%... The total binary fraction in the Trojan clouds (including both wide and close pairs) must be higher."
- "Hubble and Spitzer Observations of an Edge-on Circumstellar Disk around a Brown Dwarf" by Luhman, K.L with Lucia Adame, Paola D'Alessio & 7 others, abstract & PDF at arXiv.org 5 June - Quote: "By combining the [IRTF] SpeX data with mid-IR photometry and spectroscopy from the Spitzer Space Telescope and previously published millimeter data from Scholz and coworkers, we construct the spectral energy distribution for 2MASS J04381486+2611399 and model it in terms of a young brown dwarf surrounded by an irradiated accretion disk... According to our modeling for the SED and images of this system, the disk contains a large inner hole that is indicative of a transition disk ... and is somewhat larger than expected from embryo ejection models."
- "Collisional processes and size distribution in spatially extended debris discs" by Thebault, Philippe with Jean-Charles Augereau, abstract & PDF at arXiv.org 5 June - Quote: "We present a new multi-annulus code for the study of collisionally evolving extended debris discs... The size distribution evolution is modeled from micron-sized grains to 50km-sized bodies."
NEOCP Activity on 5 June '07
The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 2 listings: 2 new
When last checked at 2037 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's NEO discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had two new listings. Both of these were "one nighters." This listing info is unchanged since when checked at 0106 UTC on today.
New MPECs on 5 June '07
Minor Planet Electronic Circulars
There were nine MPECs issued this day from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- MPEC 2007-L08 time-stamped "06:06 UT" - Daily Orbit Update - see below
- MPEC 2007-L09 time-stamped "14:14 UT" - Observable Comets - see below
- MPEC 2007-L10 time-stamped "15:36 UT" - Distant Minor Planets - see below
- MPEC 2007-L11 time-stamped "15:41 UT" - Critical-List Minor Planets - see below
- MPEC 2007-L12 time-stamped "15:47 UT" - Atens and Apollos - see below
- MPEC 2007-L13 time-stamped "15:47 UT" - Amors - see below
- MPEC 2007-L14 time-stamped "15:47 UT" - Unusual Minor Planets - see below
- MPEC 2007-L15 time-stamped "15:47 UT" - PHAs - see below
- MPEC 2007-L16 time-stamped "18:45 UT" - Comets C/2004 A4, 2004 B11, 2005 B5, 2005 B6, 2006 A8, 2007 J5, 2007 J6 (SOHO)
MPEC 2007-L16 - "18:45 UT" - Comets C/2004 A4, 2004 B11, 2005 B5, 2005 B6, 2006 A8, 2007 J5, 2007 J6 (SOHO)
- CK07J060 C/2007 J6 from the LASCO Coronagraph 2 on the Solar & Heliospheric Obs. (SOHO) (May 9.15-29p22)
- CK07J050 C/2007 J5 from SOHO C2 (May 7.54-67p16)
- CK06A080 C/2006 A8 from the LASCO Coronagraph 3 on the Solar & Heliospheric Obs. (SOHO) (2006 Jan. 10.01-03p4 & 2006 Jan. 10.07-28p22)
- CK05B060 C/2005 B6 from SOHO C3 (2005 Jan. 30.57-78p18 & 2005 Jan. 30.82-86p4)
- CK05B050 C/2005 B5 from SOHO C3 (2005 Jan. 22.22-26p6, 2005 Jan. 22.32-51p14 & 2005 Jan. 22.57p2)
- CK04B110 C/2004 B11 from SOHO C3 (2004 Jan. 20.86-93p8, 2004 Jan. 20.97-03p6 & 2004 Jan. 21.07-14p8)
- CK04A040 C/2004 A4 from SOHO C3 (2004 Jan. 7.93p2, 2004 Jan. 7.97-03p6 & 2004 Jan. 8.07-28p22)
MPEC 2007-L15 - "15:47 UT" - PHAs
MPEC 2007-L14 - "15:47 UT" - Unusual Minor Planets
MPEC 2007-L13 - "15:47 UT" - Amors
MPEC 2007-L12 - "15:47 UT" - Atens and Apollos
MPEC 2007-L11 - "15:41 UT" - Critical-List Minor Planets
MPEC 2007-L10 - "15:36 UT" - Distant Minor Planets
MPEC 2007-L09 - "14:14 UT" - Observable Comets
<< DOU on 5 June '07 >> MPEC 2007-L08 - "06:06 UT" - Daily Orbit Update
- Observations of risk-listed objects
- K04X44N 2004 XN44 (arc=3 days, H=18.3 ~741m) from David Tholen's team on Mauna Kea (2004 Dec. 16.24-28p4)
- Observations of other objects
- K07K00D 2007 KD (arc=14 days, H=20.6 ~257m) from the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) (May 25.53p2)
- K07J35J 2007 JJ35 (i=56.1°, arc=21 days, H=18.5 ~676m) from SSS (May 25.50p2)
- K07J02Y 2007 JY2 (arc=23 days, H=21.7 ~155m) from SSS (May 25.55-56p2)
- K07H15E 2007 HE15 (arc=33 days, H=19.7 ~389m) from SSS (May 25.37p2)
- K07F20E 2007 FE20 (arc=63 days, H=19.3 ~467m) from SSS (May 25.52p2)
- K07C19F 2007 CF19 (Q=4.871 AU, arc=128 days, H=18.8 ~589m) from SSS (May 25.36p2)
- K06D14P 2006 DP14 (q=0.306 AU, arc=2 opp, H=18.9 ~562m) from SSS (May 25.51-52p2)
Observers on 5 June '07
Three observing facilities appeared in this day's MPECs.
| 5682 | David Tholen's team on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, 1 in MPEC 2007-L08 -- 2004 XN44 |
| E12 | Siding Spring Survey in New South Wales, 7 in MPEC 2007-L08 -- 2007 KD, 2007 JJ35, 2007 JY2, 2007 HE15, 2007 FE20, 2007 CF19, 2006 DP14 |
| 2492 | LASCO Coronagraph 2 via the Solar & Heliospheric Obs. in Earth-Sun L1 HALO orbit, 2 in MPEC 2007-L16 -- C/2007 J6, C/2007 J5 |
| 2493 | LASCO Coronagraph 3 via the Solar & Heliospheric Obs. in Earth-Sun L1 HALO orbit, 5 in MPEC 2007-L16 -- C/2006 A8, C/2005 B6, C/2005 B5, C/2004 B11, C/2004 A4 |
Impact Risk Monitoring on 5 June '07
| 0000NNN000 Object | Risk Monitor | When Noted UTC | 0000T0000 Year Range | VI # | 000NN00 Prob Cum | T0000 PS Cum | T0000 PS Max | T S | Notes for Today's Latest Risk Assessments |
| 2004 XN44 | JPL | 2359 | 2013-2094 | 23 | 1.4e-07 | -3.02 | -3.25 | 0 | JPL: "Analysis based on 21 observations spanning 3.0217 days (2004-Dec-13.253512 to 2004-Dec-16.275236)." Diameter approximately 0.740 km. from mean, weighted H=18.3. |
| NEODyS | 1441 | 2013-2079 | 22 | 3.27e-07 | -2.75 | -2.96 | 0 | NEODyS: "Based on 21 optical observations (of which 0 are rejected as outliers) from 2004/12/13.254 to 2004/12/16.276." | |
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.
Chronology on 5 June '07
Times are UTC for when the items were noted by Major News.
| 2359 | Noted that JPL has updated its 2004 XN44 risk assessment - see above |
| 1939 | Grabbed MPEC 2007-L16 - Comets C/2004 A4, 2004 B11, 2005 B5, 2005 B6, 2006 A8, 2007 J5, 2007 J6 (SOHO) - see above |
| 1938 | Added link to news story, "Meteorite to go on display in Wichita" Added link to news story, "UC stamps its mark" Added link to news story, "Scientists have eyes on the moon" |
| 1703 | Grabbed MPEC 2007-L10 - Distant Minor Planets - see above |
| 1702 | Grabbed MPEC 2007-L09 - Observable Comets - see above Grabbed MPEC 2007-L11 - Critical-List Minor Planets - see above Grabbed MPEC 2007-L12 - Atens and Apollos - see above Grabbed MPEC 2007-L13 - Amors - see above Grabbed MPEC 2007-L14 - Unusual Minor Planets - see above Grabbed MPEC 2007-L15 - PHAs - see above |
| 1441 | Noted that NEODyS has posted 2004 XN44 as an impact risk - see above Grabbed MPEC 2007-L08 - Daily Orbit Update - see above |
| 0556 | Added MOS paper, "Collisional processes and size distribution in spatially extended debris discs" - see above Added MOS paper, "Fraction of Contact Binary Trojan Asteroids" - see above Added MOS paper, "Hubble and Spitzer Observations of an Edge-on Circumstellar Disk around a Brown Dwarf" - see above Added link to news story, "Asteroid Impact, Biological Crises and Death of the Dinos" |
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