[meteorite-list] Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 DA14 Makes Preview Appearance

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:11:16 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201302142011.r1EKBGRo023879_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-060

Near-Earth Asteroid Makes Preview Appearance
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
February 14, 2013

[Animation]
This animated set of three images depicts asteroid 2012 DA14 as it was
seen on Feb. 14, 2013 This animated set of three images depicts asteroid
2012 DA14 as it was seen on Feb. 14, 2013, at a distance of 465,000
miles (748,000 kilometers). The animation was created by astronomers at
the Remanzacco Observatory in Italy using observations obtained remotely
from the Faulkes Telescope South in Siding Springs, Australia. Image
Image credit: LCOGT/Faulkes
- Full image and caption
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/multimedia/asteroid2012da14i.html>

Like trailers for the coming attraction, new images show asteroid 2012
DA14 on its way to a record-close approach to Earth on Feb. 15. One
image, taken by amateur astronomer Dave Herald of Murrumbateman,
Australia, on Feb. 13, shows the asteroid as a tiny white dot in the
field of view. Another set of animated images, obtained by the Faulkes
Telescope South in Siding Springs, Australia, on Feb. 14, and animated
by the Remanzacco Observatory in Italy, shows the asteroid as a bright
spot moving across the night sky.

These are some of many images that may be taken of the asteroid during
its close - but safe - encounter with Earth. It will be observed by
numerous optical observatories worldwide in an attempt to determine its
rough shape, spin rate and composition. NASA scientists will use NASA's
Goldstone Solar System Radar, located in California's Mojave Desert, to
take radar images of the asteroid to determine its precise size and
shape on Feb. 16, 18, 19 and 20. The NASA Near Earth Object Observation
(NEOO) Program will continue to track the asteroid and predict its
future orbit.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 is about 150 feet (45 meters) in diameter. It is
expected to fly about 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) above Earth's
surface at the time of closest approach, which is about 11:25 a.m. PST
(2:25 p.m. EST) on Feb. 15. This distance is well away from Earth and
the swarm of low Earth-orbiting satellites, including the International
Space Station, but it is inside the belt of satellites in geostationary
orbit (about 22,200 miles, or 35,800 kilometers, above Earth's surface.)
The flyby of 2012 DA14 is the closest-ever predicted approach to Earth
for an object this large.

The NASA Near Earth Object Observation (NEOO) Program detects and tracks
asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using ground- and
space-based telescopes. The network of projects supported by this
program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these objects,
characterizes a subset of them and plots their orbits to determine if
any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

The Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL manages the technical and
scientific activities for NASA's Near-Earth Object Observation Program
of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The NEOO Program
Office performs more precise orbit determination on the objects, and
predicts whether any will become an impact hazard to the Earth, or any
other planet in the solar system.

More information is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html .

DC Agle/Jia-Rui Cook 818-393-9011/4-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle at jpl.nasa.gov / jccook at jpl.nasa.gov

2013-060
Received on Thu 14 Feb 2013 03:11:16 PM PST