Safeway-size asteroid to get closer to Earth than satellites

[Anak]

I have since found that the asteroid will approach Earth from the South Pole, then flyby Southwestern Australia to over the tip of India, and exit the Earth/Moon system over Europe towards Greenland.

This strange trajectory is due to the gravitational pull of Earth.
Its closest point will be midway over the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea as shown in the YouTube Video cover below.

The only Video I could find on YouTube is here:


There are updates, and two more NASA videos, and trajectory plots here:
NASA - Asteroid 2012 DA14 ? Earth Flyby Reality Check

The flyby in my area of Central Pa. will occur from 16:20 to 19:00 EST (4:20am - 7:00pm EST). Friday February 15th, 2013.

 

[Slartybart]

Thanks Steve,

Pretty cool info - I guess we don't get to see it here in PA

 

[Anak]

Your welcome,

Oh, it could be, but because its in the late morning/afternoon you would have to have the equipment that exceeds the wherewithall of the common man.

• A Radio telescope.
• A >than 16" telescope.
• Daytime Filters
• CCD camera
• Motorized Mount

Something on the order of this:


Source: Asteroid 2012 DA14 Can Be Seen On Real-Time Video Offered By Clay Center Observatory in Brookline, Massachusetts - Space News - redOrbit

This is what I have:

Source: Company Seven | The Criterion Dynascope RV-6 Telescope
A 6" Motorized Bausch & Lomb German Equatorial, but it is woefully under-powered for this event.

I don't know your location in PA., but if you go to this page you'll see the map is centered on State College, Pa.: Asteroid 2012 DA14 Flyby
You'll notice the asteroid is coming out of the North and heading up and away to the South from the Earth. It looks like it's heading down but that's what its doing, up and away, and at 2:00pm (19:00) it will be too high to see any more unless you have the above mentioned equipment.

Sometimes I get a skull pain trying to figure this stuff out.

 

[Slartybart]

I'm about an hour or so east of you - straight line on Rte30

Funny thing you mention skull pain - I said something similar when I eMailed the Heavens Above link to some friends

So my $ store reading glasses won't work, huh?

 

[Anak]

We could be pretty close to each other. I only used State College as a reference point.
I'm not that paranoid about my privacy, but I'm not going to just blurt out my zip code or street address.

If you are referring to being an hour east of State college on 30, that would put you in the New Oxford area on 30, close?

Here's my reckin'


I'm up near the the second arrow and star, 8miles Northwest of Hbg.

The local vernacular kinda grows on ya, and no, your store bought's won't do very well, h*ll even my scripts won't get me past the back yard.

 

[Slartybart]

C'mon Steve... at least your street address - who could possibly figure anything out from that alone? :sarc:

Sorry, my reference was east of H'burg, not east of Happy Valley.

Anyway - yes, our locales are fairly close, but Google says 1.5 hours. They probably don't drive as fast as I do on the back roads (or even hiways)

 

[Britton30]

I did the locater thing for my location, N of Indy, but can't make sense of it.

 

[COMPUTIAC]

I think I will be able to see it ?, if my new binoculars arrive in time.
Got Carson 12x50's.

Heavens-Above Home Page

 

[Slartybart]

North of Indy - 15:30 - 18:00, almost due North in the sky map

17:00 - 18:00 look towards Draco
18:30 look towards Ursa Minor

I did the locater thing for my location, N of Indy, but can't make sense of it.

Oh what the hell, I don't know what it means either Just look up

 

[Britton30]

I suspect it will be too din to see anyway, as they say. I'll have to borrow Steve's 105" telescope.

 

[Anak]

C'mon Steve... at least your street address - who could possibly figure anything out from that alone? :sarc:

You have me at a disadvantage Sb; you know my name, that I live in the Central Pa. area, even near Hbg. , but you don't even have an "about me" page in your profile, and you want me to post my street address??

Sorry, my reference was east of H'burg, not east of Happy Valley.

Anyway - yes, our locales are fairly close, but Google says 1.5 hours. They probably don't drive as fast as I do on the back roads (or even hiways)

My error, then perhaps in the Downingtown area?

I did the locater thing for my location, N of Indy, but can't make sense of it.

See my answer to C, and Sb below.

I think I will be able to see it ?, if my new binoculars arrive in time.
Got Carson 12x50's.

Heavens-Above Home Page

Nice Bi-nocs! I would love to tell you, "yes you will C", but, from your Heavens-Above page:

At a maximum magnitude of about 7.4 it will not be visible to the naked eye, but should be visible through binoculars if you know where to look and live in the right part of the world.

At mag. +7.4 that would be difficult even on a cloudless, moonless night.

I'm going to try and catch it on one of the live shots in Europe, its not the same experience as an actual observation, but that will give me time to set up here before it gets here.

You can bet I'm going to be out at my local time trying to see it, I don't hold much hope though.

North of Indy - 15:30 - 18:00, almost due North in the sky map

17:00 - 18:00 look towards Draco
18:30 look towards Ursa Minor

I did the locater thing for my location, N of Indy, but can't make sense of it.

Oh what the hell, I don't know what it means either Just look up

Actually your spot on Sb, but then, in the early afternoon where are the Stars, what are your reference points?
If the casual observer is not accustom to an Equatorial coordinate system it puts him or her at a disadvantage.

I suspect it will be too din to see anyway, as they say. I'll have to borrow Steve's 105" telescope.

My money's on you, Gary. Which Steve are you referring to, essenbe?

 

[Slartybart]

D'town... very good, even without my street address or zip code

I have an about me page... don't I?
I thought I did, better check...phew, yeah it's there. No much there, like my hair.

I was being sarcastic when I posted "not even your street address". Hopefully, the emoticon gave that away.

Well, Heaven Above was spot on - I simply looked at the table below the map and knowing a little bit, I figured any negative number was out of sight (below the horizon).

The NASA page you gave was cool too, except I became a little concerned by all of the repeated assurances that 2012 DA14 couldn't possibly collide with Earth. It's not that I think it will, it's just when someone overly tries to reassure me that I get suspicious.

The NASA site mentioned that the speed of the object will make it difficult to see and track. If you have a camera hooked up to your scope, and get some decent shots, please post 'em

Thanks,

Bill
.

 

[Britton30]

I suspect it will be too din to see anyway, as they say. I'll have to borrow Steve's 105" telescope.

My money's on you, Gary. Which Steve are you referring to, essenbe?

No, it was you Anak, I was being facetious and referring to the pic of the 25" you posted a pic of. A local school here has a Meade LX-200 16-inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope but haven't heard any plans to try to see the space rock.

 

[Anak]

Your welcome Bill, we should start a new game, "Can you guess where I live?"


Bill, are we talking apples and oranges?

We have a Profile Page, not only are you missing the "About Me Tab", but a couple of others to. My apologies for not being clearer.



I knew you were being sarcastic, but I would of thought this would have been better, I take as joking or tongue-in-cheek. No harm, no foul.

You are correct on the negative numbers.

I'm 100% sure that it won't hit Earth, unless....Even Donald Yeomans of JPL admits there is a slight possibility this, unless it happens to collide with one of the 404 Geo-synchronous satellites; List here, even then I would think that the heavier mass of the asteroid would win out and still miss Earth, but the scattered remains of that satellite would make for a glorious re-entry fireworks show, if you were in the right location.
That's a big part of astronomy; location, location, location.

The next questions would be:

1. If the asteroid would hit, it would at least create a crater the size of Barringers Crater in Arizona. Did you know its just down the road from Winslow? The town the group, the Eagles made famous.
2. What did the satellite that got hit do? Was it weather, communications, phones, TV, military, or intelligence? The first four we'd know quickly, the last two, not for a while.

I have several camera's, but I don't think my tracking equipment is up to the task. I'll see what I can do.



Still kidding Gary? That's a pic of my 6".
That would be the best bet locally, to find a school or observatory.


Some mood music, the lyrics for Winslow start at 1:01 :

 

[Slartybart]

My mistake, only contacts see my about me - just hit the befriended link on your profile. Still, there's not a whole lot to see.

Hopefully, you'll get a few good pics. I've missed some great cosmic shows because of location, all of that stuff going on just over the horizon and out of view.

l8r

 

[Britton30]

the last great things I saw were 6-8 Perseid meteors and the (I think) the Hale-Bopp twin tailed comet.

 

[Anak]

Oh, okay, I didn't know it worked that way. Check your friends list, I can see more now, thanks.

Well the jury's still out on the pics. I to have missed a lot because of location, sky cover.

I'm wondering now about the aurora borealis, this Fall will be the peak of Solar Max, but it looks to be a quiet one.
You can if you want to, subscribe to the: gse-aa GSE Aurora Alerts Sign-up they only send an alert if the K Index is above 5 for your area.




I watch the ISS whenever it's in the area, check the ISS link on the main page of Heavens-Above (HA). You already have your location in, so it will give you viewing times for your area.

• Click on the link on the main page.
• You will see ISS - Visible Passes
• Scroll down to the hyperlinked list of dates.
• Click on one.
• You will see a sky chart, look the page over.
• In the upper right corner you will see Ground Track, click on that.
• It gives a better understanding of how the ISS will be soaring overhead.
• Times in HA are based on the 24 or military clock.

Here's the one for you Gary: Ground Track Plot you might be able to see it, 19:27 = 7:27pm tonight, about an hour from now. You just missed this good one: Ground Track Plot,

Bill you have about a half hour for this: Ground Track Plot

Depending on your line-of-sight to the horizion try to stay with Alt's. higher than 20°, see red box.


Hale-Bopp, what can I say...I watched that for two months in the Northwest for hours. It is still visible in the largest telescopes after 16years. If I can find it there is a pic of it, and I'll post it.

Well, time to go out and see if I can spot the ISS, it's coming over my area from 18:51 to 18:56 (6:51- 6:56pm EST).

 

[Slartybart]

begin sarcasm alert

We humans are funny creatures...
"oh looky a shiny object in the dirt, I'll dig it up and put in an underground vault"
"oh looky a shiny obect in the sky, wish I could put THAT in my vault"
​

end sarcasm alert

re: Profile/about me: it only works that way if you set the option to Friends and Contacts.

Foggy and cloud cover hee, can't see ISS.

Hale-Bopp was one of the coolest thing I've seen in my life - almost every night for two months out in the front yard looking up in utter amazement. More recently (a year ago already!) was the mars, venus, jupiter, saturn alignment. Two things about that stood out, 1) observing it put the plane of the solar system into real perspective, 2) seeing the cresent of an inner planet (venus) 3) watching venus and jupiter move "apart" until venus dropped below the horizon (ok I said two, but it was really cool)
.

 

[Britton30]

Yeah the sky has been cloudy for several days here too.
My mom spoke of seeing the Borealis when she wad a little girl, but I never have.

 

[Anak]

Update:

Feb. 13, 2013: NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST) on Friday, Feb. 15, during the close, but safe, flyby of a small near-Earth asteroid named "2012 DA14." NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. This flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.

The commentary will be available via NASA TV and streamed live online at NASA - NASATV and NASA JPL Live, Ustream.TV: UPCOMING EVENTS: Geoengineering and Climate Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 at 7 p.m. PST (10 p.m. EST) NASA Follows Asteroid Flyby Fr...

In addition to the commentary, near real-time imagery of the asteroid's flyby before and after closest approach, made available to NASA by astronomers in Australia and Europe, weather permitting, will be streamed beginning at about noon EST (9 a.m. PST) and continuing through the afternoon at NASA JPL Live, Ustream.TV: UPCOMING EVENTS: Geoengineering and Climate Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 at 7 p.m. PST (10 p.m. EST) NASA Follows Asteroid Flyby Fr...

Also, a Ustream feed of the flyby from a telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will be streamed for three hours starting at 9 p.m. EST (8 p.m. CST). To view the feed and ask researchers questions about the flyby via Twitter, visit NASA MSFC on USTREAM: . Science

Source: NASA to Broadcast Asteroid Flyby of Earth - NASA Science

We used to get NASATV when we were on DirecTv, but FiOS has yet to pick it up.