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October 10th, 2007, 07:05 AM
Found: Long-lost Asteroid, on collision course with Earth*
By John Borland
October 07, 2007 | 8:21:31
Aurigidjenniskens For more than 40 years, an asteroid believed to be
potentially dangerous to Earth has been essentially lost to view. But
no
more.
The so-called 6344 P-L was first spotted in 1960, and given the
designation Potentially Hazardous Asteroid – meaning that its orbit
took it within .05 astronomical units (about 4,650,000 miles) of
Earth's
orbit. But astronomers lost track of it; left behind was only a number
and a vague sense of threat.
However, meteor researcher Peter Jenniskens of the SETI institute now
argues, with confirmation from the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory' Minor Planet Center, that this wayward wanderer is in fact
the same thing as the recently discovered 2007 RR9, making a
reappearance this year as part of a
4.7-year orbit.
"The object was long recognized to be dangerous, but we didn't know
where it was. Now it is no longer just out there," said Jenniskens.
Moreover, the astronomer says, the "asteroid" doesn't really qualify as
an asteroid at all. Instead, Jenniskens believes it's the dormant
fragment of a comet nucleus, part of a larger body that broke up in the
relatively recent past (in stellar terms), creating the Gamma Piscid
meteor showers in mid-October and early November.
Under neither name is it likely to hit Earth anytime in the near
future.
But the little long-lost beastie will be high in the southern sky as it
passes by Earth in early November, about .07 astronomical unit away
(about 6.5 million miles).
Long-lost 'Potentially Hazardous Asteroid' re-located [press release]
(Image: A composite image of the Aurigid meteor shower.
Credit:
NASA/SETI Institute/Peter Jenniskens)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 21:28 "And when these things begin to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your
redemption draweth nigh."
By John Borland
October 07, 2007 | 8:21:31
Aurigidjenniskens For more than 40 years, an asteroid believed to be
potentially dangerous to Earth has been essentially lost to view. But
no
more.
The so-called 6344 P-L was first spotted in 1960, and given the
designation Potentially Hazardous Asteroid – meaning that its orbit
took it within .05 astronomical units (about 4,650,000 miles) of
Earth's
orbit. But astronomers lost track of it; left behind was only a number
and a vague sense of threat.
However, meteor researcher Peter Jenniskens of the SETI institute now
argues, with confirmation from the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory' Minor Planet Center, that this wayward wanderer is in fact
the same thing as the recently discovered 2007 RR9, making a
reappearance this year as part of a
4.7-year orbit.
"The object was long recognized to be dangerous, but we didn't know
where it was. Now it is no longer just out there," said Jenniskens.
Moreover, the astronomer says, the "asteroid" doesn't really qualify as
an asteroid at all. Instead, Jenniskens believes it's the dormant
fragment of a comet nucleus, part of a larger body that broke up in the
relatively recent past (in stellar terms), creating the Gamma Piscid
meteor showers in mid-October and early November.
Under neither name is it likely to hit Earth anytime in the near
future.
But the little long-lost beastie will be high in the southern sky as it
passes by Earth in early November, about .07 astronomical unit away
(about 6.5 million miles).
Long-lost 'Potentially Hazardous Asteroid' re-located [press release]
(Image: A composite image of the Aurigid meteor shower.
Credit:
NASA/SETI Institute/Peter Jenniskens)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 21:28 "And when these things begin to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your
redemption draweth nigh."