Forum - Astroid comes close to earth tonight!

The rain will prevent me from seeing this rock tonight but if any one has a "spotting scope" or medium telescope you should be able to see it. I could see the comet that exploded and Khotecik (?) when it passed the earth with my spotting scope. Great sights if you have clear skies!

Asteroid will swing by, but won't stop By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer
Thu Jan 24, 10:33 PM ET



An asteroid at least 500 feet long will make a rare close pass by Earth next week, but there is no chance of an impact, scientists reported Thursday.

The object, known as 2007 TU24, is expected to whiz by Earth on Tuesday with its closest approach at 334,000 miles, or about 1.4 times the distance of Earth to the moon.

The nighttime encounter should be bright enough for medium-sized telescopes to get a glimpse, said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which tracks potentially dangerous space rocks.

However, next week's asteroid pass "has no chance of hitting, or affecting, Earth," Yeomans said.

An actual collision of a similar-sized object with Earth occurs on average every 37,000 years.

Spotted last October by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, 2007 TU24 is estimated to be between 500 feet and 2,000 feet long. The next time an asteroid this size will fly this close to Earth will be in 2027.

Scientists plan to point the Goldstone radar telescope in California and the Arecibo radar telescope in Puerto Rico at the asteroid and observe its path before and after its closest approach to Earth. Researchers will use instruments to measure its rotation and composition.

The 2007 TU24 rendezvous comes a day before another asteroid is projected to pass close to Mars.

Scientists have effectively ruled out a collision between the Red Planet and the asteroid 2007 WD5, estimating it will pass at a distance of more than 16,000 miles from the Martian surface. Initial observations of the Mars-bound asteroid put the odds of an impact at 1 in 25, but scientists later dropped the odds to 1 in 10,000.

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On the Net:

Near Earth Object Program: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

Hi Paul! I heard about this last night on the nightly news and it's an amazing thing to see if I could see it. I don't think that I can see it from where I'm at. I hope that you and others can see it and report back what you saw. I bet it's an amazing thing to see though!
I hope you have a great night too!
Kisses,
12pleaseu

As for me, I am intersted more in the Apophis which will come very close to our planet in 2029 and then in 2036. The minimal distance from the Earth in 2029 will be less than 30,000 kilometres! It is closer than some satellites orbits are! This nice pebble will be seen without any gadgets.

Kotikkk,

I'll be watching for that one, too. I hope it passes during the summer months that way I'll be able to go up into the mountains to get a better view. I'll still take my spotting scope and a good pair of binoculars. That will be a twice in a life time event!
If I'm still crazy enough I might even have to book a trip to the base camp at Mt. Everest!
Who knows, maybe space travel will only cost a little more than an airplane ticket. I bet they build special airplanes for it.
Thinking of that I posted it here first so I'm gonna put a trademark on it. Call it the "Sky Bubble!"

The scientists say that it will be seen better in the northern hemisphere.

I'm glad I live in the Northern Hemisphere. Maybe I'll have to try Mt. Rainier or Crater Lake. Hell, I can just go up to Donner Summit which is at 7500 ft and get a great view.

May the weather be clear on that significant day :))

It must be a good idea to bookmark a good observatory for that day.
You can also buy a telescope if you like asteroids so much :)

I'd strap myself to the nose of the space shuttle in a bucket if they's let me!!!!
I hope in my next life I can be a real "Rocket Man."

Kotikkk,
Thanks for the positive wishes for the weather.

To feel a Rocketman you should buy a Rocket Belt :))
Strapping to the nose of a shuttle is comfortable only when the rocket starts for you'll not fall down.

I've read something about a real terminal for Space tourism that must be built soon in the US.