Asteroid 2004BL86

[wucheeyiun]

Another decent fireworks on display 25 to 28 this January



Extracted from site information :-

An asteroid designated 2004 BL86 will safely pass about three times the distance of Earth to the Moon on January 26, 2015. From its reflected brightness, astronomers estimate that the asteroid is about a third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) in size. The flyby of the asteroid will be the closest by any known space rock this large until asteroid 1999 AN10 flies past Earth in 2027. At the time of its closest approach on January 26th, the asteroid will be approximately 745,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from Earth. It is expected to be observable to amateur astronomers with small telescopes and strong binoculars.

[Airconvent]

Thanks for the update Chee Yiun. Looks like another object of intrest for Gavin lol...

[starfinder]

Yes, Rich! I hope to view and image this asteroid. I believe it would be visible from Singapore on Monday 26 Jan 2015 from about [correction:] 8.30pm onwards in the South-East in Puppis. It would then be at around mag 10.

More info here:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/22/us/asteroid-fly-by/

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronom ... -01222015/

[starfinder]

I've to make a correction to my earlier post.

I've just checked with the JPL Horizons website:
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi

Asteroid 2004 BL86 would be visible from Singapore on Monday 26 Jan 2015 from about **8.30pm** onwards (above 25 deg) in the SSE in Puppis, and rising. It would then be at around mag 10.1.

(I had earlier stated 11pm based on info from a planetarium software, but it turns out to be inaccurate.)

I hope to upload a screenshot of the RA & Dec coordinates later.

Update: Below is a list of the RA & Dec coordinates for the asteroid, from 8pm on Monday 26 Jan 2015 to 2am in 5 minute intervals, assuming the observer is in central Singapore. Taken from the above-mentioned JPL Horizons website. It also shows the azimuth and the altitude (elevation) of the asteroid, its apparent magnitude and constellation.

Times shown are UTC (1200 = 8pm Singapore)

[starfinder]

I managed to view the asteroid (2004 BL86) in the eyepiece at 11pm last night, using my Meade LX90 SCT. The asteroid was quite faint; according to the JPL Horizons website, it was then at mag 10.1 and in Lynx. It was in the NE. I saw it as a grey-white star-like dot. It moved very slowly but I could definitely see that it was moving against background stars.

Shortly thereafter, I took multiple images of the asteroid. Here's my 141 frame gif animation taken over 28 mins (imaging details on webpage):

http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_up ... v2ehtk0954

[Airconvent]

Wow Gavin, you upgraded to motion pictures now!
Looks nice. Must have been exciting for you to have tracked it in your eyepiece...