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U.S., Russia fight over asteroid that could destroy Earth
- WEDNESDAY, 22 JUNE 2011 00:00
- NIGERIAN COMPASS
- HITS: 4356
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BARELY two weeks after the failure of a doomsday prediction by a United States (U.S.) based preacher, Russia and U.S. scientists are at war over another perceived threat to human existence. The danger this time is not an apocalyptic occurrence, but the smacking of the Earth by a giant asteroid in five months time. The potentially perilous space rock is known as Asteroid 2005 YU55, a round mini-world that is about 1,300 feet (400 metres) in diametre. According to U.S. scientists, this asteroid will approach the Earth within a scant 0.85 lunar distances in early November. Due to its size, and the way it will whisk by so close to the Earth, an extensive campaign of radar, visual and infrared observations are being planned. U.S. scientists say there is no cause for alarm, but the Russians have issued a report saying there’s something to fear.NASA rejects the Russian report, calling the chances of the asteroid hitting the Earth ‘minuscule’. Asteroid 2005 YU55 was discovered by Spacewatch at the University of Arizona, Tucson’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory on December 28, 2005. According to Spacewatch, the asteroid is “en route and headed our way, the cosmic Wanderer is another reminder about life here on our sitting duck of a planet’. “The close Earth approach of 2005 YU55, on November 8, is unusual since it is close and big. On average, one wouldn’t expect an object this big to pass this close but every 30 years,” said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Programme Office and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Yeomans said that with new radar capabilities at Goldstone in California — part of NASA’s Deep Space Network — there is a good chance of obtaining radar imaging of 2005 YU55 down to the five-meter resolution level. Doing so, he said, would mean obtaining higher spatial resolution of the object than that attained by recent spacecraft flyby missions. “So, we like to think of this opportunity as a close flyby mission with Earth as the spacecraft,” Yeomans told SPACE.com. “When combined with ground-based optical and near-infrared observations, the radar data should provide a fairly complete picture of one of the larger potentially hazardous asteroids,” he said. Asteroid 2005 YU55 is a slow rotator. Because of its size and proximity to Earth, the Minor Planet Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has designated the space rock as a “potentially hazardous asteroid”. “We’re already preparing for the 2005 YU55 flyby,” said Lance Benner, a research scientist at JPL and a specialist on radar imaging of near-Earth objects. He said part of the plan was to observe the asteroid with radar, using both the huge Arecibo dish in Puerto Rico and equipment at Goldstone. “The asteroid will approach from the south, so Goldstone has the first chance to observe it due to its declination coverage,” Benner said. To help coordinate the observing campaigns, “Radar Observations Planning” websites have been set up for the unusual occasion, Benner said. “This flyby will be the closest by any near-Earth asteroid with an absolute magnitude this bright since 1976 and until 2028,” Benner added. “Nobody saw 2010 XC15 during its close flyby, within 0.5 lunar distances, in 1976.” He noted that the asteroid wasn’t discovered until late in 2010...........................................................................................................Asteroid 2005 YU55 To ApproachEarth Nov 8 2011
by Staff WritersPasadena CA (JPL) Mar 11, 2011Near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass within 0.85 lunar distances from the Earth on November 8, 2011. The upcoming close approach by this relatively large 400 meter-sized, C-type asteroid presents an excellent opportunity for synergistic ground-based observations including optical, near infrared and radar data
Trajectory of Asteroid 2005 YU55 - November 8-9, 2011. Click here for animation - .
An animated illustration by JPL shows the Earth and moon flyby geometry for November 8th and 9th when the object will reach a visual brightness of 11th magnitude and should be easily visible to observers in the northern and southern hemispheres.The closest approach to Earth and the Moon will be respectively 0.00217 AU and 0.00160 AU on 2011 November 8 at 23:28 and November 9 at 07:13 UT.Discovered December 28, 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch Program near Tucson Arizona, the object has been previously observed by Mike Nolan, Ellen Howell and colleagues with the Arecibo radar on April 19-21, 2010 and shown to be a very dark, nearly spherical object 400 meters in diameter.Because of its approximate 20-hour rotation period, ideal radar observations should include tracks that are 8 hours or longer on multiple dates at Goldstone (November 3-11) and when the object enters Arecibo's observing window on November 8th.Using the Goldstone radar operating in a relatively new "chirp" mode, the November 2011 radar opportunity could result in a shape model reconstruction with a resolution of as fine as 4 meters. Several days of high resolution imaging (about 7.5 meters) are also planned at Arecibo.As well as aiding the interpretation of the radar observations, collaborative visual and near infrared observations could define the object's rotation characteristics and provide constraints upon the nature of the object's surface roughness and mineral composition.Since the asteroid will approach the Earth from the sunward direction, it will be a daylight object until the time of closest approach. The best time for new ground-based optical and infrared observations will be late in the day on November 8, after 21:00 hours UT from the eastern Atlantic and western Africa zone.A few hours after its close Earth approach, it will become generally accessible for optical and near-IR observations but will provide a challenging target because of its rapid motion across the sky.Although classified as a potentially hazardous object, 2005 YU55 poses no threat of an Earth collision over at least the next 100 years. However, this will be the closest approach to date by an object this large that we know about in advance and an event of this type will not happen again until 2028 when asteroid (153814) 2001 WN5 will pass to within 0.6 lunar distances.The report was prepared by Don Yeomans, Lance Benner and Jon Giorgini for NASA's JetPropulsion Laboratory Near-Earth Object Program.........................................................................................................Asteroid 2005 YU55 to Approach Earth on November 8, 2011
Don Yeomans, Lance Benner and Jon Giorgini March 10, 2011
Near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass within 0.85 lunar distances from the Earth on November 8, 2011. The upcoming close approach by this relatively large 400 meter-sized, C-type asteroid presents an excellent opportunity for synergistic ground-based observations including optical, near infrared and radar data. The attached animated illustration shows the Earth and moon flyby geometry for November 8th and 9th when the object will reach a visual brightness of 11th magnitude and should be easily visible to observers in the northern and southern hemispheres. The closest approach to Earth and the Moon will be respectively 0.00217 AU and 0.00160 AU on 2011 November 8 at 23:28 and November 9 at 07:13 UT. Discovered December 28, 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch Program near Tucson Arizona, the object has been previously observed by Mike Nolan, Ellen Howell and colleagues with the Arecibo radar on April 19-21, 2010 and shown to be a very dark, nearly spherical object 400 meters in diameter. Because of its approximate 20-hour rotation period, ideal radar observations should include tracks that are 8 hours or longer on multiple dates at Goldstone (November 3-11) and when the object enters Arecibo's observing window on November 8th. Using the Goldstone radar operating in a relatively new "chirp" mode, the November 2011 radar opportunity could result in a shape model reconstruction with a resolution of as fine as 4 meters. Several days of high resolution imaging (about 7.5 meters) are also planned at Arecibo. As well as aiding the interpretation of the radar observations, collaborative visual and near infrared observations could define the object's rotation characteristics and provide constraints upon the nature of the object's surface roughness and mineral composition. Since the asteroid will approach the Earth from the sunward direction, it will be a daylight object until the time of closest approach. The best time for new ground-based optical and infrared observations will be late in the day on November 8, after 21:00 hours UT from the eastern Atlantic and western Africa zone. A few hours after its close Earth approach, it will become generally accessible for optical and near-IR observations but will provide a challenging target because of its rapid motion across the sky.
Trajectory of Asteroid 2005 YU55 - November 8-9, 2011
Click on image for animation
Trajectory of Asteroid 2005 YU55 - November 9, 2011
Edge-on view to the ecliptic plane
- http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news171.html.........................................................................................................
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The near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 — on the list of potentially dangerous asteroids — was observed with the Arecibo Telescope's planetary radar on April 19, 2010, when it was about 1.5 million miles from Earth.
CREDIT: Arecibo Observatory/Michael Nolan
Mark your calendars for an impressive and upcoming flyby of an asteroid that’s one of the larger potentially perilous space rocks in the heavens – in terms of smacking the Earth in the future.It’s the case of asteroid 2005 YU55, a round mini-world that is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in diameter. In early November, this asteroid will approach Earth within a scant 0.85 lunar distances. [Photo of Asteroid 2005 YU55]Due the object’s size and whisking by so close to Earth, an extensive campaign of radar, visual and infrared observations are being planned............................................................................................................................................................
No, 2005 YU55 won’t destroy the Earth
On November 8th of this year, the 400-meter-wide asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass the Earth, missing us by the comfortable margin of 325,000 kilometers (200,000 miles).While this is the largest asteroid (that we know of) to swing past us for the next 17 years or so, YU55 is not an immediate threat to Earth. Its orbit does bring it close enough to our planet that it’s been deemed a potentially hazardous asteroid, but the orbit is well-enough known that we can rule out an impact for at least the next century. That’s long enough for me personally to not be concerned.
I’ve seen some small amount of buzz on the usual conspiracy sites about this asteroid, and I do see some folks trying to play this up a bit (search on "YU55 doomsday" for example), but fear-mongering chatter is surprisingly low for this event. I expect that by this fall you’ll be seeing breathless YouTube videos accusing NASA of covering up a imminent impact — and I don’t say this blithely; it’s happened before. Remember asteroid 2007 TU24? No? That’s because nothing happened, despite the claims of panic-promoters.As you can see in this JPL animation below, in November YU55 will miss us by a cosmic mile as well (click to embiggen and get a clearer animation):You can see the Earth at the center (the diagonal line if the Earth’s orbit around the Sun), the Moon orbiting the Earth, and the path of YU55. The scale on the bottom is a million kilometers, about 620,000 miles. The Moon’s orbit is roughly 770,000 km (475,000 miles) wide. The path of YU55 cuts a shallow chord across the Moon’s orbit, well away from our planet.Still, there’s a chance for some real science on this rock. At that distance, it’ll appear so small (1/4 arcseconds across, where the Moon is 1800 arcsec across for comparison) that it’ll be too small even for Hubble to make much of it — at best, in Hubble’s cameras it will appear to be just two pixels across. And that’s even if Hubble could track it, which it can’t..........................................................................................................Huge asteroid 2005 YU55 to pass near Earth in November
– APRIL 8, 2011POSTED IN: FEATURED STORIES, UNCATEGORIZED
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Asteroid 2005 YU55 Meets Comet Elenin’s Debris Tail at Earth on November, 2011
Asteroid 2005 YU55 discovered December 28, 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch Program near Tucson Arizona is expected to cross between the orbit of moon and the earth, passing the earth by only 204.502 miles at around the exact same time the Earth is expected to smack into the debris tail of Comet Elenin, in the beginning of November 2011
YU55 is estimated to be about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in diameter.
ASTEROID 2005 YU55 – closest on November 8 to November 9, 2011 at .0022 AU from Earth
COMET ELENIN – (Approximately 4 kilometers in diameter * 2.5 miles diameter – reference Daveyo) . Closest on October 17, 2011 at .232 AU from Earth believed to be a brown dwar star often called “Planet X, Tyche, or Hercolubus.”
Approx. November 6, 2011 – Earth crosses Elenin’s Orbit and smacks into Elenin’s debris tail. Elenin, Earth, Mercury and Venus are in alignment. Elenin is .359 AU from Earth and 1.301 AU from the Sun.
According to the discoverer of the comet Elenin, Leonid Elenin “The comet is absolutely safe for the Earth. It will be held at 34 million kilometers, .232AU, from Earth.” Interview with russian Astronomer Leonid Elenin
But we have our doubts about the explanation of Leonid Elenin,( NASA’s Boogie Man?) It seems that his explanation are the words of NASA, “Comet Elenin will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in any way here on Earth, i will get no closer to Earth than 35 million kilometers, .232AU.”http://www.space.com/11617-comet-elenin-wimpy-solar-system.html
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