Travelers in the Night Eps. 329 & 330: Near Neighbor & Comet Johnson

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an
observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired
from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006.
travelersinthenight.org


From November 2024.


Today's 2 topics:


- My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Carson Fuls was using the new
hundred million pixel camera on our team's Schmidt telescope
located on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona, when he discovered 2017 AG13. It
passes near the Earth's orbit twice a year on its own 345 day
path around the Sun. When Carson spotted it, 9 lunar distances
from him it was heading in our direction at about nine and a half
miles per second. Three days later it came to less than two times
the distance the Moon's distance from us. Carson's new space
rock, 2017 AG13's orbit, can bring it to less than 2,000 miles
from the surface of our planet. It will not come near the Earth
again until 2091 and will not strike the Earth in the foreseeable
future.


 


- Comet C2/2015 V2 Johnson was discovered by my Catalina Sky
Survey teammate Jess Johnson on November 3, 2015. It travels on a
hyperbolic path around the Sun which is highly inclined to the
plane where the planets and most of the asteroids travel. Jess's
comet's path takes it from deep space into the inner solar system
slightly further from the Sun than the planet Mars. Although it
will not get closer to the Earth than about 75 million miles it
may out gas enough material to make it visible to the naked
eye. 


 


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