Asteroid 2014 Rc To Safely Pass Close To Earth On Sunday

A puny asteroid, chosen 2014 RC, essence powerfully perform very liquidate to Humankind on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014. At the time of neighboring approach, based on current calculations to be about 2:18 p.m. EDT (11:18 a.m. PDT / 18:18 UTC), the asteroid essence be brashly over New Zealand. From its reflected vividness, astronomers give your opinion that the asteroid is about 60 feet (20 meters) in capacity. Asteroid 2014 RC was earliest bare on the night of Elegant 31 by the Catalina Sky Look at adjoining Tucson, Arizona, and on your own detected the nearby night by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope, positioned on the topmost of Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii. Also reported their interpretation to the Diminutive Globe Pedestal in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Glut follow-up interpretation by the Catalina Sky Look at and the Speculative of Hawaii 88-inch (2.2-meter) telescope on Mauna Kea acknowledged the clique of 2014 RC.

At the time of neighboring approach, 2014 RC essence be articulate one-tenth the solitude from the center of Humankind to the moon, or about 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers). The asteroid's ordinary consequence at that time essence be about 11.5, style it unobservable to the in competition eye. Thus far, grassroots astronomers in the middle of puny telescopes may possibly fathom the dynamic terminate of this near-Earth asteroid.

The asteroid essence perform below Humankind and the geosynchronous clangor of communications and weather satellites orbiting about 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) finished our planet's close. For example this outer space object does not peek to plan any gamble to Humankind or satellites, its liquidate approach creates a point break down for researchers to observe and heed mega about asteroids.

This quaint depicts the clique of asteroid 2014 RC vis-?-vis the sun. A house-sized asteroid essence powerfully fly departed Humankind Sunday afternoon, September 7, at a solitude copy to about one-tenth of the solitude concerning Humankind and the moon. Theme credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For example 2014 RC essence not consciousness Humankind, its clique essence bring about it lay a wager to our planet's neighborhood in the near-term. The asteroid's near-term motivation essence be through and through monitored, but no near-term desolate Humankind encounters lug been identified.

For a heliocentric viewpoint of the clique of asteroid 2014 RC in the middle of pursue to Humankind and other planets, visit: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2014+RC">

Credit: jpl.nasa.gov

Nasa Radar Reveals Asteroid Has Its Own Moon

A sequence of radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 was obtained on the evening of May 29, 2013, by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., when the asteroid was about 3.75 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Earth, which is 15.6 lunar distances.

"

First radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 were obtained when the asteroid was about 3.75 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Earth [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR]"

The radar imagery revealed that 1998 QE2 is a binary asteroid. In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters) or larger are binary or triple systems. Radar images suggest that the main body, or primary, is approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) in diameter and has a rotation period of less than four hours. Also revealed in the radar imagery of 1998 QE2 are several dark surface features that suggest large concavities. The preliminary estimate for the size of the asteroid's satellite, or moon, is approximately 2,000 feet (600 meters) wide. The radar collage covers a little bit more than two hours.

The radar observations were led by scientist Marina Brozovic of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The closest approach of the asteroid occurs on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. Pacific (4:59 p.m. Eastern / 20:59 UTC), when the asteroid will get no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. This is the closest approach the asteroid will make to Earth for at least the next two centuries. Asteroid 1998 QE2 was discovered on Aug. 19, 1998, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program near Socorro, N.M.

The resolution of these initial images of 1998 QE2 is approximately 250 feet (75 meters) per pixel. Resolution is expected to increase in the coming days as more data become available. Between May 30 and June 9, radar astronomers using NASA's 230-foot-wide (70 meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, will perform an extensive campaign of observations on asteroid 1998 QE2. The two telescopes have complementary imaging capabilities that will enable astronomers to learn as much as possible about the asteroid during its brief visit near Earth.

Radar is a powerful technique for studying an asteroid's size, shape, rotation state, surface features and surface roughness, and for improving the calculation of asteroid orbits. Radar measurements of asteroid distances and velocities often enable computation of asteroid orbits much further into the future than if radar observations weren't available.

NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. In fact, the United States has the most robust and productive survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects. To date, U.S. assets have discovered more than 98 percent of the known Near-Earth Objects.

In 2012, the Near-Earth Object budget was increased from 6 million to 20 million. Literally dozens of people are involved with some aspect of near-Earth object research across NASA and its centers. Moreover, there are many more people involved in researching and understanding the nature of asteroids and comets, including those objects that come close to Earth, plus those who are trying to find and track them in the first place.

In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it also partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers, and space science institutes across the country that are working to track and better understand these objects, often with grants, interagency transfers and other contracts from NASA.

NASA's Near-Earth Object Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, manages and funds the search, study, and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them close to Earth. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

In 2016, NASA will launch a robotic probe to one of the most potentially hazardous of the known Near-Earth Objects. The OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid (101955) Bennu will be a pathfinder for future spacecraft designed to perform reconnaissance on any newly-discovered threatening objects. Aside from monitoring potential threats, the study of asteroids and comets enables a valuable opportunity to learn more about the origins of our solar system, the source of water on Earth, and even the origin of organic molecules that lead to the development of life.

NASA recently announced development of a first-ever mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid for human exploration. Using game-changing technologies this mission would mark an unprecedented technological achievement that raises the bar of what humans can do in space. Capturing and redirecting an asteroid will integrate the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draw on the innovation of America's brightest scientists and engineers.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is available at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch and via Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/asteroidwatch.

More information about asteroid radar research is at: http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/

More information about the Deep Space Network is at: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn.

"Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory [May 30, 2013]"