Asteroid 2012 DA14
Today at midnight (from February 15 to February 16, 2013, at 23-25 Moscow time), the asteroid “2012 DA14” will pass at a minimum distance from the Earth - about 27,000 km. Those. slightly more than two diameters of the Earth (12 756.2 km), and significantly less than the diameter of the Moon's orbit (perigee 362 600 km).
The mass of the asteroid is about 130,000 tons, the diameter is about 44 meters. The average orbital speed is 31.155 km / s.
According to most scientists, this event will not have any negative impact on the Earth.
At the time of flight at a minimum distance of the Earth, an asteroid can be observed through small binoculars or even with the naked eye in the absence of clouds and light noise. At this point, the brightness of the asteroid will reach 7.9 magnitude.
')
(clickable)
The animation was made by Jaime Nomen from the La Sagra team - the Astronomical Observatory de Mallorca team.
Further, I would like to speculate on how to photograph this asteroid tonight (at the latitude of Moscow), so to speak, by household means.
And is it possible in principle and in the quality given above.
Well, some additional information about this asteroid and about the future in principle.
(some of the pictures are clickable)
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is open on February 23, 2012. and belongs to the Apollo group.
© Leonid Elenin / ISON-NM Observatory
This is the largest celestial body, which is close to Earth so close in the entire history of observations.
Immediately after the asteroid approaches the Earth, astronomers intend to conduct a series of observations using the largest VLA (Very Large Array) and VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) radio telescopes, as well as the NASA planetary radar in Goldstone.
The observation scheme is as follows - the radar in Goldstone will radiate a powerful radio signal towards the asteroid, and the radio telescopes will “catch” its reflection.
Since the surface of the asteroid is uneven, then the parameters of the reflected signal (time) can determine the shape of the asteroid, the relief, the speed with which it rotates and how its axis of rotation is directed. Since the VLA and VLBA radio telescopes are spread over almost the entire territory of North America, the task is quite feasible and the measurement accuracy will be quite high.
According to the results obtained, astronomers will be able to assess the impact on the asteroid of the “Yarkovsky effect” - the shift of the asteroid's orbit as a result of the heating of one of its sides by the Sun. The asteroid radiates heat (in the infrared range) on its “evening”, dark side, as a result of which a very weak reactive traction force is created, distorting the orbit of a celestial body.
Since the asteroid has a rotation around its own axis, the radiation direction is constantly changing.
The orbit of our quasi-satellite is as follows.
(clickable)
At present, the orbit is recognized by scientists as safe, but in the event of a fall (God forbid, of course), the effect can be compared with the Tunguska meteorite.
On the NASA website published several video clips on this topic.
And one more informational video:
However, the most interesting was published only yesterday, at the Huffington Post.
It turns out that the asteroid will pass inside the orbit of geostationary satellites, about 35,800 kilometers (22,245 miles) above the equator, i.e. in close proximity to them. This is fraught in the worst case with a collision with some satellite, or at best, a short-term loss of communication (due to disturbances from the asteroid).
According to Pavel Chodas, a planetary astronomer from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “This is very unlikely, but we cannot rule out this.” But apart from a small opportunity to break the satellite, the asteroid does not pose a serious threat. It has a tiny 0.033 percent — or 1 in 3030 — chance of impacting the Earth, according to NASA.
Full Iforgafika on the passage of the asteroid past the satellites - here.
Another 3D model of the asteroid's trajectory through the ring of Earth satellites.
White dots indicate geostationary satellites.
Gray - satellites in the area of potential risk of collision.
According to scientists, geostationary satellites will be at a safe distance, but nevertheless the Earth’s gravitational field will strongly deflect the asteroid’s orbit in such a way that in the future it will come closer to the Earth from the inside of the Earth’s orbit, and not and the period of rotation of the asteroid around the Sun will change from 366 to 317 days. The table of the next meetings 2012 DA14 with the Earth for 2100 can be found here.
Now I propose to discuss who and how is going to film today at midnight in the family archive (I cannot claim the scientific value of the photographs) the celestial object closest to Earth in the entire history of observations.))
Of course, the shape of an asteroid cannot be seen even in an amateur telescope, since at such a distance, its angular dimensions in the sky will be too small. It will look like a small star moving rapidly across the sky (about 3/4 degrees per minute).
Personally, I plan to use a digital SONY DSC-HX100V with a tripod and in firework mode.
There is no serial timer in this camera, there is no remote control either, so several frames can only be made manually (for animation).
The trajectory of the passage through the celestial sphere at the latitude of Moscow will look something like this:
At the time of maximum convergence, he will be over the eastern Indian Ocean, near Sumatra.
In conclusion, some information from the website of the Astronomical Gazette "Heaven above Bratsk" (well done!)
For observers from other cities, you need to get your 2012 DA14 time-of-flight map with timestamps, for example, on the Heavens-Above service (do not forget to select your location in the Configuration section using the select from map and specify the correct time zone), or - for experienced astronomy lovers - to independently obtain asteroid ephemeris on the site of the Small Planets Center , since for different observation points the asteroid path will run along other constellations!
Some observatories intend to conduct on-line broadcasts of the asteroid flight, which can be seen at the following addresses:
Virtual Telescope's WebTV
The Clay Center Observatory in Brookline, MA, USA
* NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center:
here,
here,
or here.
SLOOH Space Camera
And infographics for future plans - a list of asteroids that will approach the Earth at a minimum distance in the next 200 years.
All those who manage to take a picture of the asteroid tonight, I invite you to upload the best photos to habrastorage.org and add a link to them in the comments to the article.
Then you can make a separate article with photos and even vote for the best shot.
Good luck, clear sky and calm plasma!
The mass of the asteroid is about 130,000 tons, the diameter is about 44 meters. The average orbital speed is 31.155 km / s.
According to most scientists, this event will not have any negative impact on the Earth.
At the time of flight at a minimum distance of the Earth, an asteroid can be observed through small binoculars or even with the naked eye in the absence of clouds and light noise. At this point, the brightness of the asteroid will reach 7.9 magnitude.
')
(clickable)
The animation was made by Jaime Nomen from the La Sagra team - the Astronomical Observatory de Mallorca team.
Further, I would like to speculate on how to photograph this asteroid tonight (at the latitude of Moscow), so to speak, by household means.
And is it possible in principle and in the quality given above.
Well, some additional information about this asteroid and about the future in principle.
(some of the pictures are clickable)
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is open on February 23, 2012. and belongs to the Apollo group.
© Leonid Elenin / ISON-NM Observatory
This is the largest celestial body, which is close to Earth so close in the entire history of observations.
Immediately after the asteroid approaches the Earth, astronomers intend to conduct a series of observations using the largest VLA (Very Large Array) and VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) radio telescopes, as well as the NASA planetary radar in Goldstone.
The observation scheme is as follows - the radar in Goldstone will radiate a powerful radio signal towards the asteroid, and the radio telescopes will “catch” its reflection.
Since the surface of the asteroid is uneven, then the parameters of the reflected signal (time) can determine the shape of the asteroid, the relief, the speed with which it rotates and how its axis of rotation is directed. Since the VLA and VLBA radio telescopes are spread over almost the entire territory of North America, the task is quite feasible and the measurement accuracy will be quite high.
According to the results obtained, astronomers will be able to assess the impact on the asteroid of the “Yarkovsky effect” - the shift of the asteroid's orbit as a result of the heating of one of its sides by the Sun. The asteroid radiates heat (in the infrared range) on its “evening”, dark side, as a result of which a very weak reactive traction force is created, distorting the orbit of a celestial body.
Since the asteroid has a rotation around its own axis, the radiation direction is constantly changing.
The orbit of our quasi-satellite is as follows.
(clickable)
At present, the orbit is recognized by scientists as safe, but in the event of a fall (God forbid, of course), the effect can be compared with the Tunguska meteorite.
On the NASA website published several video clips on this topic.
And one more informational video:
However, the most interesting was published only yesterday, at the Huffington Post.
It turns out that the asteroid will pass inside the orbit of geostationary satellites, about 35,800 kilometers (22,245 miles) above the equator, i.e. in close proximity to them. This is fraught in the worst case with a collision with some satellite, or at best, a short-term loss of communication (due to disturbances from the asteroid).
According to Pavel Chodas, a planetary astronomer from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “This is very unlikely, but we cannot rule out this.” But apart from a small opportunity to break the satellite, the asteroid does not pose a serious threat. It has a tiny 0.033 percent — or 1 in 3030 — chance of impacting the Earth, according to NASA.
Full Iforgafika on the passage of the asteroid past the satellites - here.
Another 3D model of the asteroid's trajectory through the ring of Earth satellites.
White dots indicate geostationary satellites.
Gray - satellites in the area of potential risk of collision.
According to scientists, geostationary satellites will be at a safe distance, but nevertheless the Earth’s gravitational field will strongly deflect the asteroid’s orbit in such a way that in the future it will come closer to the Earth from the inside of the Earth’s orbit, and not and the period of rotation of the asteroid around the Sun will change from 366 to 317 days. The table of the next meetings 2012 DA14 with the Earth for 2100 can be found here.
Now I propose to discuss who and how is going to film today at midnight in the family archive (I cannot claim the scientific value of the photographs) the celestial object closest to Earth in the entire history of observations.))
Of course, the shape of an asteroid cannot be seen even in an amateur telescope, since at such a distance, its angular dimensions in the sky will be too small. It will look like a small star moving rapidly across the sky (about 3/4 degrees per minute).
Personally, I plan to use a digital SONY DSC-HX100V with a tripod and in firework mode.
There is no serial timer in this camera, there is no remote control either, so several frames can only be made manually (for animation).
The trajectory of the passage through the celestial sphere at the latitude of Moscow will look something like this:
At the time of maximum convergence, he will be over the eastern Indian Ocean, near Sumatra.
In conclusion, some information from the website of the Astronomical Gazette "Heaven above Bratsk" (well done!)
For observers from other cities, you need to get your 2012 DA14 time-of-flight map with timestamps, for example, on the Heavens-Above service (do not forget to select your location in the Configuration section using the select from map and specify the correct time zone), or - for experienced astronomy lovers - to independently obtain asteroid ephemeris on the site of the Small Planets Center , since for different observation points the asteroid path will run along other constellations!
Some observatories intend to conduct on-line broadcasts of the asteroid flight, which can be seen at the following addresses:
Virtual Telescope's WebTV
The Clay Center Observatory in Brookline, MA, USA
* NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center:
here,
here,
or here.
SLOOH Space Camera
And infographics for future plans - a list of asteroids that will approach the Earth at a minimum distance in the next 200 years.
All those who manage to take a picture of the asteroid tonight, I invite you to upload the best photos to habrastorage.org and add a link to them in the comments to the article.
Then you can make a separate article with photos and even vote for the best shot.
Good luck, clear sky and calm plasma!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/169509/
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