Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 DA14 - 16 Feb 2013 (Singapore time)

[Gary]

UPDATE (14 Feb): Just completed my blog with step-by-step instructions to hunt down this asteroid in Singapore. Hope you guys find it useful: http://www.astro.sg/2013/02/near-earth- ... sible.html

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NASA info: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/ ... flyby.html

http://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-2012 ... th-in-2013

This asteroid may be an interesting conversation topic during CNY. Hope it is not taboo to talk about people dying from a potential asteroid hit on Earth. Especially on the 7th day of Chinese New Year which is 人日 (Ren Ri) - birthday of all human beings according to chinese tradition.









Nice video animation by CNN illustrating why it will be visible in Singapore: http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02 ... h-is-safe/

[starfinder]

Sky & Telescope magazine has an article and a chart on asteroid 2012 DA14 in the Feb 2013 issue, at pg 51.

It says that viewing circumstances for this 50m asteroid would be good for Asia during its closest approach to Earth at only 28,500km, on 15 Feb 2013 at 19:25 UT (i.e. 03:25 am on Sat 16 Feb in Singapore), when it would be at around mag 8 in Virgo and moving along at a very fast 0.8 degrees per minute.

At mag 8, it would be visible in mid-sized amateur scopes even from a city. I would certainly want to try to observe this one.

In fact, I think from Singapore we will be privileged to be able to see it fly from the region of Crux, to Virgo, and then through the Big Dipper in over 4 hours early that morning. Such is the view that's possible from the equator! But of course, much depends on our (equatorial) weather.

I'm sure Sky & Telescope will put up the info and charts for the asteroid on its website nearer mid February.

Bear in mind that our Moon is at a distance of about 380,000km from the Earth, and from Singapore to London it's about 11,000km. So 28,500km for a 50m asteroid is indeed quite close!

[Gary]

Added NASA@Science video in the first post. Enjoy!

[starfinder]

As predicted, Sky & Telescope's article has now been put up on their website. It's a good read:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 52161.html


Let's have an overnight Asteroid-Zipping-Pass-Earth-Observing Party that night. After all, tropical east Asia would be in prime position for it.

[starfinder]

Here's an interesting fact:
' "This is a record-setting close approach," says Don Yeomans of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at JPL. "Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we've never seen an object this big get so close to Earth." '
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/sc ... an_2012da/

And here's a well-made animation showing the asteroid's pass:
http://youtu.be/S7YTmS6U8WM

The asteroid will get so close that Earth's gravity will cause the asteroid's orbit to be altered, reducing its orbital period from 366 to 317 days:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_DA14
The Wikipedia article contains more links and references on this asteroid.

Hmmm.... I wonder if the planetary scientists have also taken into account the gravitational effect of our Moon on the asteroid.

Anyway, let's make an effort to view and image the asteroid on the early morning of Sat Feb 16th 2013 from here in Singapore! Just over two weeks from now.


Below are the ephemeris (celestial coordinates) and other data for Asteroid 2012 DA14, for observers in Singapore (I used Labrador Park's GPS coordinates), generated using the JPL Horizons ephemeris utility:
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi
See the Sky & Telescope article (referenced in my earlier post today) for more info on what to enter at the JPL Horizons website.

The tables show the date/time (UTC), R.A. and Dec coordinates, Azimuth and Altitude (elevation), magnitude, % illumination, and constellation. As can be seen, the asteroid will be more than 10 degrees above the horizon from Singapore from just after 1.00am right up to just before 7.00am. It will culminate at 3:32am in Leo (at around 80 deg above the horizon) with a peak brightness of around mag 6.8, which is well within the reach of small telescopes.

The asteroid will be under mag 10 from around 1:40am to around 6:20am, making it viewable with small scopes from a city, assuming one knows exactly where to look for this fast moving target (and assuming all the predictions are correct).

The first table is for 11pm to 7am Singapore time; intervals are 20 mins. The second table is zoomed-in to the period 3:20am to 3:50am, with interals of 1 min.

FOR OBSERVERS IN SINGAPORE:
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Date__(UT)__HR:MN R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)_DEC Azi_(a-appr)_Elev APmag Illu% Cnst
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2013-Feb-15 15:00 06 54 48.10 -88 58 02.3 180.2545 -0.2837 12.43 39.799 Oct
2013-Feb-15 15:20 09 32 20.78 -88 14 05.6 179.3510 0.3130 12.23 40.682 Oct
2013-Feb-15 15:40 10 29 57.84 -86 59 57.5 178.4192 1.2065 12.01 41.727 Oct
2013-Feb-15 16:00 10 55 01.93 -85 26 25.2 177.4811 2.4531 11.77 42.975 Oct
2013-Feb-15 16:20 11 08 11.92 -83 32 21.0 176.5638 4.1252 11.50 44.484 Oct
2013-Feb-15 16:40 11 15 58.04 -81 12 55.2 175.7012 6.3196 11.19 46.330 Cha
2013-Feb-15 17:00 11 20 54.89 -78 20 25.4 174.9373 9.1692 10.85 48.623 Cha
2013-Feb-15 17:20 11 24 15.03 -74 43 24.2 174.3330 12.8631 10.47 51.513 Mus
2013-Feb-15 17:40 11 26 36.85 -70 04 51.1 173.9793 17.6768 10.02 55.215 Mus
2013-Feb-15 18:00 11 28 22.47 -63 59 24.2 174.0278 24.0169 9.52 60.019 Ce
2013-Feb-15 18:20 11 29 45.42 -55 49 59.0 174.7704 32.4699 8.95 66.266 Ce
2013-Feb-15 18:40 11 30 54.06 -44 47 28.3 176.8979 43.7861 8.31 74.175 Ce
2013-Feb-15 19:00 11 31 53.25 -30 07 00.7 182.6566 58.5079 7.66 83.254 Hya
2013-Feb-15 19:20 11 32 45.21 -12 04 33.6 205.1730 75.1553 7.11 91.393 Crt
2013-Feb-15 19:40 11 33 30.63 +06 59 54.1 297.1357 77.4616 6.86 95.563 Leo
2013-Feb-15 20:00 11 34 10.33 +23 54 36.0 326.6429 62.5842 7.11 95.082 Leo
2013-Feb-15 20:20 11 34 46.30 +37 08 20.4 334.0635 49.3274 7.63 91.976 UMa
2013-Feb-15 20:40 11 35 21.68 +46 57 51.4 337.4527 39.1462 8.17 88.214 UMa
2013-Feb-15 21:00 11 36 00.05 +54 13 56.0 339.5230 31.4379 8.65 84.699 UMa
2013-Feb-15 21:20 11 36 45.01 +59 41 50.9 341.0242 25.5194 9.07 81.680 UMa
2013-Feb-15 21:40 11 37 40.02 +63 53 59.2 342.2375 20.8804 9.44 79.155 UMa
2013-Feb-15 22:00 11 38 48.34 +67 12 13.2 343.2883 17.1708 9.77 77.051 Dra
2013-Feb-15 22:20 11 40 13.06 +69 51 15.7 344.2388 14.1535 10.06 75.289 Dra
2013-Feb-15 22:40 11 41 57.10 +72 01 09.3 345.1219 11.6651 10.32 73.801 Dra
2013-Feb-15 23:00 11 44 03.23 +73 48 54.5 345.9554 9.5911 10.55 72.531 Dra


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Date__(UT)__HR:MN R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)_DEC Azi_(a-appr)_Elev APmag Illu% Cnst
************************************************************************************
2013-Feb-15 19:20 11 32 45.21 -12 04 33.6 205.1730 75.1553 7.11 91.393 Crt
2013-Feb-15 19:21 11 32 47.63 -11 07 08.2 207.7545 75.9006 7.08 91.716 Crt
2013-Feb-15 19:22 11 32 50.03 -10 09 34.2 210.6227 76.6165 7.06 92.029 Crt
2013-Feb-15 19:23 11 32 52.42 -09 11 53.3 213.8104 77.2971 7.04 92.330 Crt
2013-Feb-15 19:24 11 32 54.80 -08 14 07.0 217.3501 77.9358 7.02 92.620 Crt
2013-Feb-15 19:25 11 32 57.16 -07 16 17.0 221.2708 78.5248 7.00 92.898 Crt
2013-Feb-15 19:26 11 32 59.50 -06 18 25.0 225.5935 79.0556 6.99 93.164 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:27 11 33 01.82 -05 20 32.7 230.3255 79.5189 6.97 93.418 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:28 11 33 04.13 -04 22 41.7 235.4532 79.9054 6.95 93.660 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:29 11 33 06.43 -03 24 53.8 240.9355 80.2058 6.94 93.889 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:30 11 33 08.71 -02 27 10.5 246.7000 80.4122 6.93 94.106 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:31 11 33 10.97 -01 29 33.6 252.6446 80.5189 6.91 94.309 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:32 t 11 33 13.21 -00 32 04.6 258.6458 80.5230 6.90 94.500 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:33 11 33 15.45 +00 25 14.8 264.5729 80.4252 6.89 94.678 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:34 11 33 17.66 +01 22 23.0 270.3048 80.2294 6.88 94.843 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:35 11 33 19.86 +02 19 18.6 275.7432 79.9424 6.88 94.995 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:36 11 33 22.04 +03 15 59.9 280.8201 79.5728 6.87 95.134 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:37 11 33 24.21 +04 12 25.5 285.4989 79.1304 6.87 95.260 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:38 11 33 26.37 +05 08 34.0 289.7692 78.6249 6.86 95.374 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:39 11 33 28.51 +06 04 24.0 293.6406 78.0658 6.86 95.475 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:40 11 33 30.63 +06 59 54.1 297.1357 77.4616 6.86 95.563 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:41 11 33 32.74 +07 55 03.1 300.2843 76.8200 6.86 95.639 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:42 11 33 34.84 +08 49 49.8 303.1189 76.1476 6.86 95.703 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:43 11 33 36.92 +09 44 12.9 305.6722 75.4501 6.87 95.755 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:44 11 33 38.99 +10 38 11.3 307.9753 74.7324 6.87 95.796 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:45 11 33 41.04 +11 31 44.1 310.0568 73.9987 6.88 95.825 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:46 11 33 43.08 +12 24 50.1 311.9424 73.2525 6.89 95.842 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:47 11 33 45.10 +13 17 28.5 313.6551 72.4967 6.89 95.849 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:48 11 33 47.12 +14 09 38.4 315.2148 71.7339 6.91 95.845 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:49 11 33 49.12 +15 01 19.0 316.6392 70.9662 6.92 95.831 Leo
2013-Feb-15 19:50 11 33 51.10 +15 52 29.5 317.9437 70.1955 6.93 95.807 Leo


However, note that the asteroid may enter into the Earth's shadow and be eclipsed for a while:
"Its orbit about the sun can bring it no closer to the Earth's surface than 3.2 Earth radii on February 15, 2013. On this date, the asteroid will travel rapidly from the southern evening sky into the northern morning sky with its closest Earth approach occurring about 19:26 UTC when it will achieve a magnitude of less than seven, which is somewhat fainter than naked eye visibility. About 4 minutes after its Earth close approach, there is a good chance it will pass into the Earth's shadow for about 18 minutes or so before reappearing from the eclipse. When traveling rapidly into the northern morning sky, 2012 DA14 will quickly fade in brightness."
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news174.html

[Gary]

Thanks Gavin! Awesome links and research. Should try observing it during CNY mahjong session breaks.

[Gary]

Nice video animation by CNN illustrating why it will be visible in Singapore
http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02 ... h-is-safe/

[Gary]

Added this animation to first post:

[starfinder]

Great animations, Gary! Thanks for adding them.

It seems a bit unfair to the Americans and Europeans that they've done all the hard work finding the asteroid, calculating its orbit and informing the world about it, doing animations etc, and we in Asia / Western Australia are the main beneficiaries in potentially being able to view it! I mean, it's going to be invisible to the Americas during close approach - wrong side of the world.

Plus we in tropical eastern Asia would be in the best position: able to see it run from far south to far north. Of course, clear weather permitting.

That's why I think we in Singapore ought to make a special effort for this one, esp during its closest approach at 3am-4am.


[Edit: I've just moved the details on the intended obs session at East Coast Park to a new thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11738 . I suggest keeping this thread for info on the asteroid itself.]

[starfinder]

From: http://ustream.tv/nasajpl2

"NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST), on Thursday, Feb. 7, to discuss an asteroid, 150 feet (45 meters) in diameter, that will pass close, but safely, by Earth on Feb. 15.

The flyby creates a unique opportunity for researchers to observe and learn more about asteroids.

The teleconference participants are:--Lindley Johnson, program executive, Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington--Timothy Spahr, director, Minor Planet Center, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.--Donald Yeomans, manager, NEO Office, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.--Amy Mainzer, principal investigator, NEOWISE observatory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory--Edward Beshore, deputy principal investigator, Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer Asteroid Sample Return Mission, University of Arizona, Tucson."

Watch it on: http://ustream.tv/nasajpl2