2005 YU55

NASA Releases First Movie Of Asteroid 2005 YU55

November 9, 2011

This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was obtained on Nov. 7, 2011, at 11:45 a.m. PST (2:45 p.m. EST/1945 UTC), when the space rock was at 3.6 lunar distances, which is about 860,000 miles, or 1.38 million kilometers, from Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Each of the six frames required 20 minutes of data collection by the Goldstone radar. At the time, 2005 YU55 was approximately 860,000 miles (1.38 million kilometers) away from Earth. Resolution is 4 meters per pixel. “The movie shows the small subset of images obtained at Goldstone on November 7 that have finished processing. By animating a sequence of radar images, we can see more surface detail than is visible otherwise,” said radar astronomer Lance Benner, the principal investigator for the 2005 YU55 observations, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “The animation reveals a number of puzzling...

How To Spot Asteroid 2005 YU55

November 8, 2011

By Michael Muracco

“You should be able to spot the asteroid with your telescope if it has an aperture of at least 6 to 8 inches,” Alan MacRobert of Sky & Telescope magazine said in a statement. 2005 YU55 will move quickly, covering about 70 degrees of sky in just 10 hours or so, according to Sky & Telescope. (Your clenched fist held at arm’s length measures about 10 degrees.) It will also be relatively dim, so skywatchers will probably need some help to find the space rock. But help is out there. The asteroid’s coordinates at any given time can...

NASA’s Latest Image of Asteroid 2005 YU55

November 7, 2011

By Michael Muracco

NASA’s Latest Image of Asteroid 2005 YU55

NASA’s Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 as it begins its close pass by Earth. The image above was taken on Nov. 7 at 11:45 a.m. PST (2:45 p.m. EST/1945 UTC), when the asteroid was approximately 1.38 million kilometers (860,000 miles) or about 3.6 lunar distances away from Earth. It’s not a great image, but there should be better images available as the asteroid gets closer. Several telescopes will be tracking of the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid throughout the pass. Goldstone’s 230-foot-wide (70-meter) antenna has been keeping an eye on...

New NASA Update On Asteroid 2005 YU55

November 4, 2011

By Michael Muracco

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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory released this video today featuring more information about the much-discussed 2005 YU55, a 400-meter-wide asteroid that will pass by Earth next Tuesday at a distance closer than the Moon. The video features research scientist Lance Benner, an expert in radio imaging of near-Earth objects. “2005 YU55 cannot hit Earth, at least over the interval that we can compute the motion reliably, which extends for several hundred years.” – Lance Benner, JPL Research Scientist While we can’t state enough that there’s no danger from YU55, this close pass will offer a fantastic opportunity for scientists to...

Asteroid 2005 YU55 Makes A close Pass To Earth November 8th

November 4, 2011

By Michael Muracco

This animation shows the trajectory of asteroid 2005 YU55 as it cruises past Earth on the night of November 8-9, 2011. NASA / JPL

On November 8th at 23:28 Universal Time (6:28 p.m. EST), asteroid 2005 YU55 will come within 198,000 miles (319,000 km) of Earth. Discovered by Robert McMillan at Steward Observatory’s Spacewatch Telescope in Arizona, 2005 YU55 has passed by our planet before. In April 2010, it ventured close enough for detailed radar probing by the giant radio dish at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It also approached even closer in 1976, though it went by undetected. Asteroid 2005 YU55 is about 1/4 of a mile across, roughly the size of an aircraft carrier. Were it to strike Earth, 2005 YU55 would deliver a kinetic-energy punch equivalent...