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NASA/JPL reported yesterday that the WISE infrared space telescope "has reached the expected end of its onboard supply of frozen coolant" but will continue observing in two bands for "one to four months" at a warmer instrument temperature to study asteroids and comets. (See also this.) The false-color four-band image here from April 24th shows comet 65P/Gunn traveling along its own dust trail. A few asteroids are also visible. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA.

Contents  on 5 October '10

• IAU Minor Planet Center
  • NEOCP Activity -- two listings: 1 new, 1 updated
  • New MPECs -- six MPECs
• Observers -- eighteen observing facilities
• Impact Risk Monitoring -- three objects
• Chronology

Resources:

• Consolidated Risk Tables - the CRT page
    Of 346 risk-listed objects, 36 have had news in the last 31 days. Updated at 1601 UTC 5 Oct.
• Earth's Busy Neighborhood Traffic Report
    Two objects are known to be within ten LD of Earth today. Updated at 1752 UTC 5 Oct.
• Ephemerides for risk-rated and nearby objects
• News image catalog
• Old & new CRT Archive
• Old News Archive & Small Objects Archive

The latest A/CC news is available via framed access,  RSS news feed, or redirection. - Note: A/CC has a main Web site and also a backup site with its own duplicate RSS news feed.

Navigation tips: Use the << and >> arrows on the menus for each regular section (Observers, Risks, etc.) to move to the previous and next day's news for that section. Use the Index menu item to access specific days through a calendar interface. And use the all-up news archive to access news from any time since A/CC began in early 2002. To keep track of what's new each day, watch the Chronology section.

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NEOCP Activity  on 5 October '10

The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 2 listings: 1 new, 1 updated

When last checked at 2359 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's Near Earth Object discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had one new and one updated listing. Both of these were "one nighters." So far The Tracking News has counted a total of eight listings on the NEOCP at some point today.

To learn how observers use the NEOCP, see the Practical guide on how to observe NEOCP object at Suno Observatory by Birtwhistle et al.

<<   Top | Contents | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

New MPECs  on 5 October '10

Minor Planet Electronic Circulars

As of last check at 2359 UTC, there have been six MPECs posted today from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• MPEC 2010-T24 time-stamped "06:07 UT" - Daily Orbit Update - see below
• MPEC 2010-T25 time-stamped "11:10 UT" - 2010 RR179 - see below
• MPEC 2010-T26 time-stamped "13:02 UT" - 2010 TU5 - see below
• MPEC 2010-T27 time-stamped "21:59 UT" - Comet P/2010 T1 (McNaught) - see below
• MPEC 2010-T28 time-stamped "22:58 UT" - 2010 RM64 - see below
• MPEC 2010-T29 time-stamped "23:32 UT" - 2010 TK6

MPEC 2010-T29 - "23:32 UT" - 2010 TK6

• K10T06K   2010 TK6 (H=21.3 ~186m) was discovered at 0329 UT on 4 Oct. by the Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS), which observed it at Oct. 4.15-16p3. The discovery was confirmed by Astronomical Research Obs. Westfield (Oct. 4.23-25p3), Great Shefford Obs. (Oct. 4.82-85p3), and Faulkes Telescope South (Oct. 5.47-48p3).

MPEC 2010-T28 - "22:58 UT" - 2010 RM64

• K10R64M   2010 RM64 (Centaur, q=6.991 AU, Q=12.008 AU, H=10.8 ~23.4 km) from the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) (Oct. 4.64-65p2)

MPEC 2010-T27 - "21:59 UT" - Comet P/2010 T1 (McNaught)

• PK10T010   P/2010 T1 (McNaught) (q=3.186 AU, Q=6.230 AU, TP=2010 Nov. 24.294 TT) from SSS (Sept. 11.49-53p4, Oct. 4.57-60p5, 4.66p1, 5.39p2, 5.52p2 & 5.67p2), Tzec Maun Obs. Moorook (Oct. 5.52-66p9), and RAS Obs. Moorook (Oct. 5.67-70p4)

MPEC 2010-T26 - "13:02 UT" - 2010 TU5

• K10T05U   2010 TU5 (risk-listed, H=19.0 ~537m) was discovered at 0951 UT on 3 Oct. by the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope, which observed it at Oct. 3.41-43p3. The discovery was confirmed by the Spacewatch 1.8m telescope (Oct. 3.46-47p3 & 4.28p3), Sandlot Obs. (Oct. 4.24-27p4 & 5.28-32p4), and ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.25-29p3).

MPEC 2010-T25 - "11:10 UT" - 2010 RR179

• K10RH9R   2010 RR179 (Q=4.232 AU, H=20.9 ~224m) was discovered at 0740 UT on 2 Sept. by MLS, which observed it at Sept. 2.32-34p4 and Oct. 4.14-16p7. The discovery was confirmed by ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.26-28p3), Sandlot Obs. (Oct. 5.19-20p3), and Spacewatch 1.8m (Oct. 5.21-22p3).

<< DOU on 5 Oct. '10 >>  MPEC 2010-T24 - "06:07 UT" - Daily Orbit Update

• Observations of risk-listed objects
• K10T00K   2010 TK (small asteroid, arc=2 days, H=25.3 ~29m) from Spacewatch 1.8m (Oct. 4.37p3) and ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.38-39p3)
• K10S15J   2010 SJ15 from Spacewatch 1.8m (Oct. 3.39-40p3)
• Observations of recently (no longer) risk-listed objects
• K10S16S   2010 SS16 (small asteroid, Q=4.689 AU, arc=4 days, H=23.3 ~74m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.16-18p3 at V=21.5-22.1)
• K10S15F   2010 SF15 (arc=5 days, H=21.2 ~195m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.13-15p3)
• K10Q02E   2010 QE2 (i=64.9°, Q=5.856 AU, arc=40 days, H=17.2 ~1.23 km) from SSS (Oct. 4.45p5)
• Observations of small asteroids (H>22.0)
• K10S15L   2010 SL15 (arc=5 days, H=25.1 ~32m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.30-33p3)
• K10S15G   2010 SG15 (arc=5 days, H=25.0 ~34m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.21-22p3)
• K10R04J   2010 RJ4 (arc=31 days, H=23.9 ~56m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.40-41p2)
• K10P66U   2010 PU66 (arc=62 days, H=22.1 ~129m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.16-20p3 at V=21.8-22.3)
• Observations of other objects
• K10T03N   2010 TN3 from Spacewatch 1.8m (Oct. 4.34p3)
• K10T00L   2010 TL (arc=2 days, H=19.3 ~467m) from Spacewatch 1.8m (Oct. 4.35-36p3)
• K10S16R   2010 SR16 from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.12-14p4)
• K10S15K   2010 SK15 from Sandlot Obs. (Sept. 30.26p4), Doc Greiner Research Obs. (DGRO) (Oct. 4.13-14p13), Tanti Obs. (Oct. 4.25p3), and ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.36-37p5)
• K10S13D   2010 SD13 (Q=4.308 AU, arc=7 days, H=18.7 ~616m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.05-08p5)
• K10R82O   2010 RO82 (Q=4.036 AU, arc=24 days, H=16.7 ~1.55 km) from SSS (Oct. 4.54p1)
• K10R80P   2010 RP80 (Q=4.720 AU, arc=24 days, H=20.8 ~234m) from Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (Oct. 4.56-60p4)
• K10R80N   2010 RN80 (arc=24 days, H=20.1 ~323m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.10-11p4) and Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (Oct. 4.49p3)
• K10R43K   2010 RK43 (arc=28 days, H=20.7 ~245m) from DGRO (Oct. 4.07-08p3)
• K10R42J   2010 RJ42 (arc=29 days, H=19.7 ~389m) from ARO Westfield (Oct. 4.08-11p3 at V=21.7-22.3)
• K10R42G   2010 RG42 (arc=29 days, H=21.4 ~178m) from Spacewatch 1.8m (Oct. 4.15-16p3)
• K10O01P   2010 OP1 (Q=4.496 AU, arc=75 days, H=19.3 ~467m) from SSS (Oct. 4.77p1)
• K10L63Y   2010 LY63 (arc=4 opp, H=17.9 ~891m) from DGRO (Oct. 4.03-04p3) and Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (Oct. 4.42-48p14)
• K09U00M   2009 UM (arc=2 opp, H=20.7 ~245m) from SSS (Oct. 4.55p1 & 4.61p1)
• K08U07F   2008 UF7 (arc=2 opp, H=19.1 ~513m) from SSS (Oct. 4.61-62p2)
• K02T70C   2002 TC70 (arc=4 opp, H=21.0 ~214m) from LINEAR (Oct. 4.30-35p4)
• K00T01J   2000 TJ1 (i=39.5°, arc=3 opp, H=19.5 ~426m) from LINEAR (Oct. 4.29-35p4), Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (Oct. 4.65-69p8), and Huelva Obs. (Oct. 4.89-92p2)
• O9595   249595 1997 GH28 from Spacewatch 0.9m (Oct. 3.26-30p3) and Purple Mtn. Obs. Xuyi Station (Oct. 3.48-52p4)
• 66146   66146 1998 TU3 from Kiev Comet Station (Sept. 25.98-03p8 & 26.09-11p5)
• 02212   2212 Hephaistos (1978 SB) from AZT-8 Evpatoria (Oct. 2.82-88p7) and Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (Oct. 4.78-79p5)

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Observers  on 5 October '10

Eighteen observing facilities appear in today's MPECs.

<<   Top | Contents | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

Impact Risk Monitoring  on 5 October '10

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

An impact solution, also known as a "virtual impactor" (VI), is not a prediction but rather a possibility derived from a variant 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" to learn more.

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Chronology  on 5 October '10

Times are UTC for when items were noted or added by The Tracking News.