The Discovery of 2019 RU3.

This artist's concept shows a broken-up asteroid.
Image: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Today (for October 31, 2019) Dr. Al Grauer reports on the podcast Travelers In The Night (562-Monster Space Rock) On his teammate at Catalina Sky Survey, Hannes Gröller, discovery of 2019 RU3. (also see 562-Additional Information-Monster Space Rock)

A list of 9257 Known NEO Earth Close Approaches Less-Than 10LD (Nominal_Dist) as of 2019-10-30

Here is a list of 9,257 Known NEO Earth Close Approaches Less-Than 10LD (Nominal_Dist) as of 2019-10-30.

If  the Earth was the size of a basketball  how far would the Moon [and the NEO Earth Close Approaches  be]? 
Here is a  spreadsheet  [if the Earth was the size of a Basketball -
 Radius 12.0275 CM(4.73523622 inches)]

 Data from the SBDB Close-Approach Data API https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/cad.api?dist-max=25LD&date-min=1900-01-01&date-max=2200-12-31&fullname=true&sort=date

NASA-JPL Released Episode 4 [Deflecting Disaster] of Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids

This artist's concept shows a broken-up asteroid.
Image: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Today[2019-10-29] NASA-JPL released Episode 4 [Deflecting Disaster] of  Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids. "Unlike the dinosaurs, we have a space program. There are many ways we could steer an asteroid off its path towards Earth.? " This is the 4th of a 10-episode podcast host by Leslie Mullen. New episodes will be released weekly. For more information, see "Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids"[NASA JPL press release].

The 2019 UB8 2019-10-29 Flyby! How Close? Is Close?

(2019 UB8) approximate (0.50 LD) flyby distance from Earth
This image adapted by Steven M Tilley from the image the original
Earth-Moon.png by Nickshanks
 under licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license

Tonight(2019-Oct-28/29) the NEO 2019 UB8 (4.4 m - 9.7 m) will do a flyby(A.K.A NEO Earth Close Approaches) of a Nominal Distance of 0.50 LD (0.00127 AU) ~191,000 KM (~ 119,000 miles). Sorting by nominal distance, this close approach is listed in the top 270 of 22,500+ entries in JPL's close approach database. (As of 2019-Oct-28) Flybys within one LD are quite common from what we "know" NEOs flybys within one LD a few times every week or so.

If  the Earth was the size of a basketball  how far would the Moon be?

What is Close

Close is a relative term. "Close" to a major sports venue is not the same as "close" to the ER. If one were to think of a basketball-size Earth, it may in understanding what is "close" and what is "far." In this, basketball-size Earth system, the ISS would be at ~0.76 CM (0.3 inches); we had NEO Flybys at 10.35 CM (4.1 inches) [ 2011 CQ1 on 2011-Feb-04] before. The Moon would range from ~673.41 CM (~22.0 Ft) to ~753.81 CM (~24.7 Ft). 2019 UB8 will be ~347.62 CM (~11.4 Ft) from the basketball. To see 2019 UB8 tonight, check out the Virtual Telescope Project.

Seven NEOs discovered in one Night by Catalina Sky Survey's Hannes Gröller

This artist's concept shows a broken-up asteroid.
Image: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Dr. Al Grauer reports on the podcast Travelers In The Night (561-Hannes Is Back) That his teammate at Catalina Sky Survey, Hannes Gröller, discovered seven NEOs in one night. (also see 561-Additional Information-Hannes Is Back)

NASA-JPL Released Episode 3[Bracing For A Crash] of Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids

This artist's concept shows a broken-up asteroid.
Image: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

This week NASA-JPL released Episode 3[Bracing For A Crash] of Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids. "[What] [i]f a big asteroid is heading our way, how does NASA prepare for the oncoming disaster? " This is the 3rd of a 10-episode podcast host by Leslie Mullen. New episodes will be released weekly. For more information, see "Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids"[NASA JPL press release].

NEO Earth Close Approaches within 25 Lunar distance(dist_min)

We getting better at finding NEO(s) however we have not been looking for very long. Many factors like the full moon, cloudy nights, the lack of large telescopes(i.e. poor sky coverage), etc can keep us from discovering them. So, therefore, we do not "know" about many of the Close Approaches that have happened.  Much of the "known" Close Approaches is only our best postdiction and predictions  Here is An  NEO Earth Close Approaches within 25 Lunar distance(dist_min) table [ Data was taken from NASA JPL SBDB Close-Approach Data API on 2019-10-14.] and scatter plots.  The apparent gaps are most likely were "unknown" Close Approaches would go.

"known" Close Approaches within 25 Lunar distance(nominal)

 

"known" Close Approaches within 10 Lunar distance(nominal)

"known" Close Approaches within 1 Lunar distance(nominal)

"known" Close Approaches within 0.5 Lunar distance(nominal)

"known" Close Approaches within 0.25 Lunar distance(nominal)

"known" Close Approaches within 0.1(Geosynchronous orbit) Lunar distance(nominal)

"known" Close Approaches within 25 Lunar distance(nominal) 1/1/2014  12:00:00 AM to 10/13/2019  11:59:00 PM

"known" Close Approaches within 10 Lunar distance(nominal) 1/1/2014  12:00:00 AM to 10/13/2019  11:59:00 PM

"known" Close Approaches within 1Lunar distance(nominal) 1/1/2014  12:00:00 AM to 10/13/2019  11:59:00 PM

"known" Close Approaches within 0.5 Lunar distance(nominal) 1/1/2014  12:00:00 AM to 10/13/2019  11:59:00 PM

"known" Close Approaches within 0.25 Lunar distance(nominal) 1/1/2014  12:00:00 AM to 10/13/2019  11:59:00 PM

"known" CA within 0.1(Geosynchronous orbit)  Lunar distance(nominal) 1/1/2014  12:00:00 AM to 10/13/2019  11:59:00 PM

"known" Close Approaches dist nominal 0.1(Geosynchronous orbit) LD vs Approximate Diameters (M) A=0.15

"known" Close Approaches dist nominal 0.25 LD vs Approximate Diameters (M) A=0.15

"known" Close Approaches dist nominal 0.5 LD vs Approximate Diameters (M) A=0.15

"known" Close Approaches dist nominal 1 LD vs Approximate Diameters (M) A=0.15

"known" Close Approaches dist nominal 10 LD vs Approximate Diameters (M) A=0.15

"known" Close Approaches dist nominal 25 LD vs Approximate Diameters (M) A=0.15

"known" Close Approaches by absolute magnitude (H)

To get an idea what sizes of "known" Asteroids here is a graph and table created JPL Small-Body Database Search Engine (Asteroids [Numbered and Unnumbered] on 2019-10-18)

upper Approximate Diameters (KM) A=0.15 vs Number of NEOs   upper Approximate Diameters (KM)  A=0.15 vs the number of all All Asteroids

		Approximate Diameters (KM)  A=0.15
upper(H)	lower(H)	upper	lower	All Asteroids		NEOs		NEOs has a % of All Asteroids
-1.50	-1.00	6,847.85	5,439.44	1	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
-1.5	-1.00	6,847.85	5,439.44	1	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
-1	-0.50	5,439.44	4,320.70	1	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
-0.5	0.00	4,320.70	3,432.06	1	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
0	0.50	3,432.06	2,726.18	1	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
0.5	1.00	2,726.18	2,165.48	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
1	1.50	2,165.48	1,720.10	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
1.5	2.00	1,720.10	1,366.33	2	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
2	2.50	1,366.33	1,085.31	2	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
2.5	3.00	1,085.31	862.09	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
3	3.50	862.09	684.79	7	0.001%	0	0.000%	0.000%
3.5	4.00	684.79	543.94	17	0.002%	0	0.000%	0.000%
4	4.50	543.94	432.07	28	0.003%	0	0.000%	0.000%
4.5	5.00	432.07	343.21	49	0.006%	0	0.000%	0.000%
5	5.50	343.21	272.62	98	0.012%	0	0.000%	0.000%
5.5	6.00	272.62	216.55	173	0.021%	0	0.000%	0.000%
6	6.50	216.55	172.01	285	0.034%	0	0.000%	0.000%
6.5	7.00	172.01	136.63	505	0.061%	0	0.000%	0.000%
7	7.50	136.63	108.53	581	0.070%	0	0.000%	0.000%
7.5	8.00	108.53	86.21	636	0.077%	0	0.000%	0.000%
8	8.50	86.21	68.48	557	0.067%	0	0.000%	0.000%
8.5	9.00	68.48	54.39	455	0.055%	0	0.000%	0.000%
9	9.50	54.39	43.21	359	0.043%	1	0.005%	0.000%
9.5	10.00	43.21	34.32	309	0.037%	0	0.000%	0.000%
10	10.50	34.32	27.26	342	0.041%	0	0.000%	0.000%
10.5	11.00	27.26	21.65	422	0.051%	0	0.000%	0.000%
11	11.50	21.65	17.20	607	0.073%	1	0.005%	0.000%
11.5	12.00	17.20	13.66	1,087	0.132%	0	0.000%	0.000%
12	12.50	13.66	10.85	1,880	0.228%	1	0.005%	0.000%
12.5	13.00	10.85	8.62	3,688	0.446%	2	0.009%	0.000%
13	13.50	8.62	6.85	6,765	0.819%	2	0.009%	0.000%
13.5	14.00	6.85	5.44	11,956	1.447%	7	0.033%	0.001%
14	14.50	5.44	4.32	20,126	2.436%	9	0.043%	0.001%
14.5	15.00	4.32	3.43	32,511	3.935%	31	0.147%	0.004%
15	15.50	3.43	2.73	51,611	6.247%	44	0.209%	0.005%
15.5	16.00	2.73	2.17	81,244	9.834%	76	0.361%	0.009%
16	16.50	2.17	1.72	114,481	13.856%	113	0.536%	0.014%
16.5	17.00	1.72	1.37	132,890	16.085%	166	0.788%	0.020%
17	17.50	1.37	1.09	124,987	15.128%	257	1.219%	0.031%
17.5	18.00	1.09	0.86	96,977	11.738%	353	1.675%	0.043%
18	18.50	0.86	0.68	63,784	7.720%	576	2.733%	0.070%
18.5	19.00	0.68	0.54	34,062	4.123%	705	3.345%	0.085%
19	19.50	0.54	0.43	15,035	1.820%	919	4.360%	0.111%
19.5	20.00	0.43	0.34	6,651	0.805%	994	4.716%	0.120%
20	20.50	0.34	0.27	3,270	0.396%	1,099	5.214%	0.133%
20.5	21.00	0.27	0.22	2,126	0.257%	1,174	5.570%	0.142%
21	21.50	0.22	0.17	1,601	0.194%	1,090	5.172%	0.132%
21.5	22.00	0.17	0.14	1,334	0.161%	1,045	4.958%	0.126%
22	22.50	0.14	0.11	1,189	0.144%	1,031	4.892%	0.125%
22.5	23.00	0.11	0.09	1,116	0.135%	1,037	4.920%	0.126%
23	23.50	0.09	0.07	1,155	0.140%	1,129	5.357%	0.137%
23.5	24.00	0.07	0.05	1,229	0.149%	1,221	5.793%	0.148%
24	24.50	0.05	0.04	1,294	0.157%	1,291	6.125%	0.156%
24.5	25.00	0.04	0.03	1,301	0.157%	1,301	6.173%	0.157%
25	25.50	0.03	0.03	1,202	0.145%	1,202	5.703%	0.145%
25.5	26.00	0.03	0.02	1,031	0.125%	1,031	4.892%	0.125%
26	26.50	0.02	0.02	932	0.113%	932	4.422%	0.113%
26.5	27.00	0.02	0.01	756	0.092%	756	3.587%	0.092%
27	27.50	0.01	0.01	530	0.064%	530	2.515%	0.064%
27.5	28.00	0.01	0.01	383	0.046%	383	1.817%	0.046%
28	28.50	0.01	0.01	229	0.028%	229	1.086%	0.028%
28.5	29.00	0.01	0.01	133	0.016%	133	0.631%	0.016%
29	29.50	0.01	0.00	101	0.012%	101	0.479%	0.012%
29.5	30.00	0.00	0.00	52	0.006%	52	0.247%	0.006%
30	30.50	0.00	0.00	27	0.003%	27	0.128%	0.003%
30.5	31.00	0.00	0.00	14	0.002%	14	0.066%	0.002%
31	31.50	0.00	0.00	5	0.001%	5	0.024%	0.001%
31.5	32.00	0.00	0.00	2	0.000%	2	0.009%	0.000%
32	32.50	0.00	0.00	4	0.000%	4	0.019%	0.000%
32.5	33.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
33	33.50	0.00	0.00	1	0.000%	1	0.005%	0.000%
33.5	34.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
34	34.50	0.00	0.00	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
34.5	35.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
35	35.50	0.00	0.00	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%
35.5	36.00	0.00	0.00	0	0.000%	0	0.000%	0.000%

NASA-JPL Released Episode 2[Impact] of Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids

This artist's concept shows a broken-up asteroid.
Image: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

This week NASA-JPL  released Episode 2[Impact] of Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids. This is the 2nd of 10-episode podcast host by Leslie Mullen. New episodes will be released weekly. For more information, see "Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids"[NASA JPL press release].

NASA-JPL Released Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids

This artist's concept shows a broken-up asteroid.
Image: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

On October 8, 2019, NASA JPL released the first episodes of  Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids -- "The Sky Is Falling," This is first of 10-episode podcast host by Leslie Mullen. New episodes will be released weekly. For more information, see "Season Two of 'On a Mission' Podcast Targets Asteroids"[NASA JPL press release].

The Baton Rouge Astronomical Society donates Library Telescope to the West Baton Rouge Parish Library

Today, 2019-10-09, the Baton Rouge Astronomical Society donated a Library Telescope made possible by the Horkheimer Charitable Fund, The Astronomical League, to the West Baton Rouge Parish Library

 

Imaging Comet 2I/Borisov = C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) on 2019 10 08 from MPC H06

There has been a good bit of buzz over a comet known as 2I/Borisov = C/2019 Q4 (Borisov). Given the fact that it is the second known interstellar object to make its way through our Solar System would explain much of this buzz. If there is buzz if the object is in range of the telescopes if there are open time slots, and the weather helps out, more often than not, I am going to give it a try.  With 2I/Borisov being low in the predawn sky, I had to wait for to be at an altitude at which the telescope could take the images.  I set up the plan to image 2I/Borisov when it was at an altitude of 27 degrees(minimum target altitude: for T11 is approx 20 degrees). I had the telescope started imaging about a half-hour before the end of full darkness. I had T11 take 15 - 60-second luminance BIN2 images.

Comet 2I/Borisov imaged from
New Mexico Skies, Mayhill, New Mexico, USA(MPC H06)
on 2019-10-08 using  itelescope.net's T11(0.50-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer),
 a  stack of 15 - 60-second luminance BIN2 images.
 By Steven M. Tilley  

Background 

Gennadiy Vladimirovich Borisov, a Russian amateur astronomer, has discovered the first known interstellar comet, 2I/Borisov. Discovered at MARGO (Gennadiy Borisov's observatory) in the Republic of Crimea on Aug 30, 2019. This object was reported to the Minor Planet Center as a "comet candidate" using the observer-assigned temporary designations gb00234. This object was posted to the NEOCP/PCCP, confirmation page, and observations poured in from around the World. On Sep 11, 2019, MPEC 2019-R106 : COMET C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) was issued, which stated the possibility and the need for more observations. MPEC 2019-S72 : 2I/Borisov = C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) was issued on Sep 24, 2019. This MPEC stated confirmation of its "hyperbolic orbit and interstellar origin" and "assigned the permanent interstellar designation 2I."

See

• MPEC 2019-R106 : COMET C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• MPEC 2019-R113 : COMET C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• MPEC 2019-S03 : COMET C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• MPEC 2019-S09 : COMET C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• MPEC 2019-S25 : COMET C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• MPEC 2019-S62 : COMET C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• MPEC 2019-S72 : 2I/Borisov = C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• MPEC 2019-S120 : COMET 2I/Borisov
• MPEC 2019-T44 : COMET 2I/Borisov 
• MPEC 2019-T116 : COMET 2I/Borisov 
• "Pseudo-MPEC" for 0002I
• A Second Interstellar Object Has Almost Certainly Been Found In Our Solar System
• MPC Database: 2I/Borisov = C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) 
• Newly Discovered Comet Is Likely Interstellar Visitor (JPL press release)
• The Maybe Comet From Another Star: Now zinging through Cancer: a glob of light from interstellar space ?
• "Naming of New Interstellar Visitor: 2I/Borisov" (IAU Press release)
• Astronomers May Have Found an Interstellar Comet. Here's Why That Matters.
• Interstellar comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) by  Piotr Guzik1, Michał Drahus1 Krzysztof Rusek , Wacław Waniak , Giacomo Cannizzaro, Inés Pastor-Marazuela
• Another Interstellar Visitor Is Headed Our Way
• FAQ for gb00234 = C/2019 Q4 = 2I (Borisov) [ by Bill Gray at ProjectPluto]
• JPL Small-Body Database Browser: C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
• 2I/Borisov (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) 

What's Up - October 2019

What's Up - October 2019: What can you see in the October sky?