* Astronomy

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RE: Asteroid Itokawa

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The Mainichi answers common questions that readers may have about the asteroid "Itokawa," to which the Hayabusa probe was sent to gather particle samples.

Question: What kind of asteroid is Itokawa?

Answer: It orbits between Earth and Mars, and is 540 meters long at its farthest point. It was discovered by American astronomers in 1998, and received the name "Itokawa" after the Hayabusa probe was launched. The name comes from Hideo Itokawa, Japan's "father of space exploration," who developed Japan's first rocket.
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Yesterday in the south central Australian village of Woomera, Japanese scientists, with US and Australian colleagues, celebrated news from their Hayabusa spacecraft - the first round-trip space mission to an asteroid. Successful manoeuvres that day had put the spacecraft on course to parachute its recovery capsule into the nearby desert on 13 June. Anticipation will continue to build until the capsule's lid is opened, offering, they hope, the first peek at asteroid dust.
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Date__(UT)__HR:MN     R.A._(ICRF/J2000.0)_DEC  APmag
 2010-Jan-01 00:00     05 31 33.56 +25 08 11.6  19.59
 2010-Jan-02 00:00     05 29 17.35 +25 08 17.9  19.63
 2010-Jan-03 00:00     05 27 03.05 +25 08 15.3  19.66
 2010-Jan-04 00:00     05 24 50.90 +25 08 04.3  19.69
 2010-Jan-05 00:00     05 22 41.13 +25 07 45.5  19.72

Blobrana · L

Asteroid 25143 Itokawa makes its closest approach to the Earth (0.571 AU)

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Asteroid 25143 Itokawa

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RE: Asteroid Itokawa

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The AUI has approved 14 new names for craters and regions on the asteroid Itokawa.

Craters: Catalina, Fuchinobe, Gando, Hammaguira, Kamisunagawa, Kamoi, Komaba, Laurel, Miyabaru, and San Marco
Regions: Arcoona Regio, LINEAR Regio, Ohsumi Regio, and Yoshinobu Regio

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Title: Are There Meteors Originated from Near Earth Asteroid (25143) Itokawa?
Authors: K. Ohtsuka, S. Abe, M. Abe, H. Yano, J. Watanabe

As a result of a survey of Itokawid meteors (i.e., meteors originated from Near Earth Asteroid (25143) Itokawa = 1998SF36), from among the multi-station optical meteor orbit data of ~15000 orbits, and applying the D-criteria, we could find five Itokawid meteor candidates. We also analysed corresponding mineral materials of the Itokawid candidates through their trajectory and atmospheric data. We conclude, on the basis of our investigation, that the fireball, MORP172, is the strongest Itokawid candidate.

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The space-borne infrared observatory AKARI, observed asteroid Itokawa last month with its Infrared Camera. The data will be used to refine estimates of sizes of potentially hazardous asteroids in the future.
The data collected by AKARI, a JAXA mission with ESA participation, complements that from JAXAs asteroid explorer Hayabusa in late April this year.
As AKARI observed Itokawa on 26 July it was in the constellation of Scorpius, and was about 19 magnitudes bright in visible light. The asteroid and Earth were closest to each other, at a distance of about 42 million km (for comparison, Earth is 150 million km from the Sun). Given how close it was, Itokawa moved a significant distance on the sky over the short observing time.
Using observational data of asteroids such as Itokawa in combination with data from the explorer, models that estimate asteroid sizes can be made more accurate. This is especially useful for estimating the size of potentially hazardous asteroids which may be discovered in the future.
Before Hayabusa arrived at Itokawa, many observations to determine the asteroid's approximate size had already been attempted. Among the many different methods of measurement, the most accurate estimate was achieved by mid-infrared observations.

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