* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Asteroid 2005 YU55

Blobrana · L

YU55 did not have any measurable effect on our tides or tectonic plates. Even a near miss is as good as a megaparsec for asteroids (that's 3.26 million light years for you non-astronomers).
Moreover the likelihood of our suffering a harmful impact from an asteroid is comfortingly low. It's estimated that the chance of even a single body like YU55 or larger striking the Earth in the next 100 years is about one in a thousand.
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Blobrana · L

Herschel meets asteroid - close encounter of the fast kind

It is the closest, fastest and smallest object so far seen by Herschel. In fact, such observations were not even foreseen due to technical constraints. The asteroid 2005 YU55 is moving on the sky with a speed exceeding by far Herschel's possibilities to track it. But with the help of a little trick scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and at the European Space Astronomy Centre in Spain were able to use Herschel to catch a glimpse of this asteroid shortly after it had crossed the Moon's orbit. With these observations the astronomers could determine some thermal and physical parameters. As it turned out, 2005 YU55 is somewhat smaller than had been assumed and probably might be a loose assembly of boulders, pebbles and dust.
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Blobrana · L

NASA Releases Updated Radar Movie of Asteroid 2005 YU55

NASA Scientists working with the 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have released a second, longer, and more refined, movie clip of asteroid 2005 YU55. The images were generated from data collected at Goldstone on Nov. 7, 2011, between 11:24 a.m. and 1:35 p.m. PST (2:24 p.m. and 4:35 p.m. EST).
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Blobrana · L

Video of 2005 YU55

Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing by Earth as recorded with a 16-inch reflecting telescope in Colorado

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2005 YU55 on 2011-11-10 from BOS

The near earth object (NEO) 2005 YU55 2 days after its close approach to Earth.
Captured by the Byrne Observatory at Sedgwick Reserve (BOS)

Blobrana · L

Mauna Kea scope snaps photo of passing asteroid

As asteroid 2005 YU55 sped away from its close encounter with Earth on Tuesday, astronomers in Hawaii snapped its photo using one of the worlds largest optical-infrared telescopes.
The image from the Keck II Telescope, made possible with adaptive optics that correct for atmospheric distortion, shows a 788-foot-wide spherical rock with no smaller orbiting companions.
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Blobrana · L

2005YU55 Movie

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Blobrana · L

Asteroid 2005 YU55 from Tucson, AZ

Near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 passing closest to Earth on the night of November 8th, 2011. Total elapsed time is 4.5 minutes, starting at about 7:14 MST. Image with Celestron NexStar 11 GPS, Starlight Xpress SXVR-H9C camera, and Starizona HyperStar f/2 lens. 85 exposures at 1 second each. Field of view is about 0.8 degrees wide.