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2005 YU55 Updated 11-4-11

1,156 views · Published 1 November 2011 · 5:28 · Indexed 3 October 2026

Channel: Qronos16 · 2011 · Science & Technology

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Those who want to get a sneak preview of what impending doom may look like will need a telescope. NASA recommends an aperture of at least 15cm.
2005 YU55 is "going to be pretty faint when it flies by", said Scott Fisher, program director of the National Science Foundation's Division of Astronomical Sciences.
"It will not be visible to the naked eye. You will need a telescope that has a mirror at least six inches in size to see it.
"To make it even more difficult to observe, it will be moving very quickly across the sky as it passes."
No such trouble for NASA - this time around, they'll catch 2005 YU55 with their Deep Space Network Antenna at Goldstone, California.
Several other radar telescopes are set up in North America to catch glimpses of the space rock, Mr Fisher added.
Astronomers who have studied the object, part of the C-class of asteroids, say it is very dark, like the colour of charcoal, and quite porous.
It was first discovered in 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch Project, a solar-system-scanning group of scientists near Tucson, Arizona.
While 2005 YU55 will stay a safe distance away, it is part of a crew of 1262 big asteroids circling the Sun and measuring more than 150m across that NASA classifies as "potentially hazardous."
"We want to study these asteroids so if one does look like it may hit us someday, we'll know what to do about it," Mr Statler said.
If we survive Apophis in 2036 - and 1999 RQ36 in 2060 - the asteroid's closest pass is set to take place in 2094, at a distance of 269,000km, according to forecasts.
"The observations will give us a piece of the puzzle, one we don't get many chances to see," said Don Yeomans of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/a-massive-asteroid-will-pass-close-to-the-earth-on-tuesday-and-scientists-are-eager-for-a-closer-look/story-e6frfro0-1226185372784#ixzz1ckRBkSvi

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