Near-Earth Asteroid 2003 DZ15 to Pass Earth Monday Night

The current orbital position of asteroid 2003 DZ15. (Created by the author using JPL’s Small-Body Database Browser).

The Earth will get another close shave Monday, when the 152 metre asteroid 2003 DZ15 makes a pass by our fair planet on the night of July 29^th/30^th at 3.5 million kilometres distant.  This is over 9 times the Earth-Moon distance and poses no threat to our world.

This is much smaller than 2.75 kilometre 1998 QE2, which sailed by (bad pun intended) our fair world at 5.8 million kilometres distant on May 31st, 2013. The Virtual Telescope Project will be presenting a free online event to monitor the passage of NEA 2003 DZ15 starting Monday night July 29^th at 22:00 UT/6:00 PM EDT.

Radio astronomer Alessondra Springmann told Universe Todaythat, “2003 DZ15 is a little to small and a little too far away for the Arecibo Observatory to detect during this apparition.” No other efforts are currently known of by professional observatories to monitor its passage via radar.

An Apollo asteroid, 2003 DZ15 was confirmed by the Lowell Observatory and NEAT’s Mount Palomar telescope upon discovery in February 2003. This is its closest approach to the Earth for this century, although it will make a pass nearly as close to the Earth in 2057 on February 12^th.

With a perihelion (closest approach to the Sun of) 0.63 A.U.s, 2003 DZ15 can also makeclose passes by the planet Venus as well, which it last did in 1988 and will do again on 2056.

Closest approach of 2003 DZ15 is set for 00:37 UT July 30^th, or 8:37 PM EDT the evening of Monday, July 29^th. Although it will only reach about +14th magnitude (based on an absolute magnitude of +22.2), and hence be out of range to all but the very largest Earthbound backyard telescopes, it’ll be fun to watch as it slowly drifts across the starry background live on the internet. Our own, “is worth tracking down from our own backyard” limit is an asteroid passing closer than our Moon, or is farther, but is brighter than +10^th magnitude… such are the limitations of humid Florida skies!

Watch the video how the asteroid will pass

Of course, an asteroid the size of 2003 DZ15 would spell a bad day for the Earth, were it headed our way. At an estimated 152 metres in size, 2003 DZ is over seven times the size of the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia the day after Valentine ’s on February 15^th of this year. While not in the class of an Extinction Level event, 2003 DZ15 would be in 60 to 190 metre size of range of the Tunguska impactor that struck Siberia in 1908.

All enough for us to take notice as 2003 DZ15 whizzes by, at a safe distance this time. NASA plans to launch a crewed mission sometime over the next decade to study an asteroid, and  perhaps retrieve a small NEA and place it in orbit about Earth’s Moon. Such efforts may go a long way in understanding and dealing with such potentially hazardous space rocks, when and if the “big one” is discovered heading our way. We’re the Earth’s first line of defense- and unlike the ill-fated dinosaurs, WE’VE got a space program and can do something about it!

Source : Universe Today

Small Asteroid Between Earth and Moon Tonight

This illustration shows the path of the small asteroid 2013 LR6, which will safely pass within 65,000 miles (105,000 kilometers) of Earth on June 7 at 9:42 p.m. PDT (June 8 at 12:42 a.m. EDT). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Small asteroid 2013 LR6 will safely fly past this evening at 9:42 p.m. PDT (which is June 8 at 12:42 a.m. EDT/June 8 at 04:42 UTC) at a distance of about 65,000 miles (105,000 kilometers) above Earth's surface. The space rock, which is about 30 feet (10 meters) in diameter, will be above the Southern Ocean, south of Tasmania, at the time of closest approach. Asteroid 2013 LR6 was discovered by the NASA-sponsored Catalina Sky Survey on June 6.

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. 



About Asteroid 2012 DA14

Information About DA14

Artist's impression of asteroid 2012 DA14's Earth flyby.

 

NASA/JPL-CALTECH

2012 DA14 is a near-Earth asteroid with an estimated diameter of about 50 meters and an estimated mass of about 190,000 metric tons.

Discovered: February 23, 2012 Find more info in Wikipedia DA14 Asteroid 2012 DA14

Small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on Feb. 15, so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites.

NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid's path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth.

NASA held a media teleconference on Thursday, Feb. 7, to discuss asteroid 2012 DA14 which will have a very close, but safe, flyby of Earth on Feb. 15, 2013. Also discussed are NASA's efforts to find potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. 
To watch a recording of the teleconference, visit: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/29104663 . 
More about in here neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news174.html

These  VIDEOS are by NASA
Source: NASA

The Flyby of Asteroid 2012 DA14 - A Discussion with Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. › Download video		An animation depicting the trajectory of asteroid 2012 DA14 as it travels within the Earth-moon system on Feb. 15, 2013. › Download video
An overview of near-Earth objects with emphasis on the upcoming close approach of asteroid 2012 DA14. › Download video		NASA is sending the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to asteroid 1999 RQ36 to better understand the evolution of its orbit and to retrieve a pristine sample for study on Earth. › Download video

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