Arecibo astronomers prepare to obtain close images of a near-Earth asteroid

The asteroid, estimated at between 150 and 600 meters in diameter – about 500 feet to 1,900 feet, or the size of a football field, at 360 feet, to the size of Chicago’s 110-story Sears Tower, at 1,454 feet – was discovered by the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey in October 2007. It poses no threat to Earth, but its near approach gives Arecibo astronomers a golden opportunity to learn more about potentially hazardous near-Earth objects.

“We don’t yet know anything about this asteroid,” said Mike Nolan, head of radar astronomy at the Puerto Rico observatory. Such objects pass near Earth with relative frequency, he said – approximately one every five years or so – but it’s rare that astronomers have enough advance notice to plan for rigorous observing.

“Because it’s coming so close, we’ll get our highest quality imaging,” said Nolan.

Using Arecibo’s powerful radar, which is the most sensitive in the world, researchers will gauge the object’s size, observe its speed and measure its spin. Switching then to imaging mode, which will offer resolution to 7.5 meters – three times more precise than NASA’s Goldstone telescope, the only other radar telescope in the world – the researchers hope to map the object’s surface in detail. The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, Green Bank, W.Va., will receive Arecibo’s echo from the asteroid and transmit its data back to Arecibo.

TU2 is one of an estimated 7,000 near-Earth objects, its size or larger – most have never been closely studied.

“We have good images of a couple dozen objects like this, and for about one in 10, we see something we‘ve never seen before,” said Nolan. “We really haven’t sampled the population enough to know what’s out there.”

Arecibo’s radar is vital for continuing to classify and understand such objects, said Cornell University assistant professor of astronomy Jean-Luc Margot. “Arecibo does a fantastic job at getting images, discovering the shape, spin and reflection properties of such an object . . . all these things that are important to know.”

The telescope will be trained on TU24 Jan. 27-28 and again Feb. 1-4. Goldstone’s planetary radar observed it Jan. 23-24.

Source: Cornell University

Arecibo Observatory astronomers discover first near-Earth triple asteroid just 7 million miles away
Once considered just your average single asteroid, 2001 SN263 has now been revealed as the first near-Earth triple asteroid ever found. The asteroid -- with three bodies orbiting each other -- was discovered this week by astronomers at the radar telescope at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
NASA Scientists Get First Images of Earth Flyby Asteroid
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., have obtained the first images of asteroid 2007 TU24 using high-resolution radar data. The data indicate the asteroid is somewhat asymmetrical in shape, with a diameter roughly 250 meters (800 feet) in size. Asteroid 2007 TU24 will pass within 1.4 lunar distances, or 538,000 kilometers (334,000 miles), of Earth on Jan. 29 at 12:33 a.m. Pacific time (3:33 a.m. Eastern time).
Scientists Working to Deflect Asteroids Threatening Earth
A team of scientists and engineers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are conducting research that could one day save humanity from asteroids threatening Earth.
Friday the 13th, 2029
by Dr. Tony Phillips
Asteroid 2004 MN4 will come scarily close to Earth on April 13, 2029, but it will not hit

Friday the 13th is supposed to be an unlucky day, the sort of day you trip on your shoe laces or lose your wallet or get bad news.
But maybe it's not so bad. Consider this: On April 13th--Friday the 13th--2029, millions of people are going to go outside, look up and marvel at their good luck. A point of light will be gliding across the sky, faster than many satellites, brighter than most stars.
What's so lucky about that? It's asteroid 2004 MN4 ... not hitting Earth.
Moon Water
Come and get it? Some researchers believe there's water on the Moon in reach of human explorers

The first object in the night sky most of us ever saw, the Moon remains a mystery. Haunted by poets, looked upon by youngsters in love, studied intensely by astronomers for four centuries, examined by geologists for the last 50 years, walked upon by twelve humans, this is Earth's satellite.
Large Asteroid Will Make Its Closest Approach to Earth Wednesday
A mountain-sized asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at 9:35 a.m. EDT wednesday.
Although asteroid 4179 Toutatis will come no closer than four times the distance between the Earth and the moon (approximately 961,000), this will be the closest approach of any known asteroid of comparable size this century.

MIT upgrades Sputnik-era antenna
(PhysOrg.com) -- A mammoth MIT antenna installed in 1957 as the first radar system to conduct space surveillance (it observed the Sputnik satellite) is poised for many more years of key observations thanks to a recently completed renovation.
Invisibility cloak now within sight: scientists (Update 2)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have for the first time engineered 3-D materials that can reverse the natural direction of visible and near-infrared light, a development that could help form the basis for higher resolution optical imaging, nanocircuits for high-powered computers, and, to the delight of science-fiction and fantasy buffs, cloaking devices that could render objects invisible to the human eye.

Arecibo astronomers prepare to obtain close images of a near-Earth asteroid

Related stories:

News discussion: