One of the closest NEO approaches ever - Feb 15th/16th

On the night of February 15th we will have a very near miss from an NEO (Near Earth Asteroid). It is going to pass so close to us that it will pass inside the orbits of our own geostationary satellites.

Named as Asteroid 2012 DA14, it is c. 50 meters in diameter. It is due to pass around 21,000 miles from the centre of the Earth, or about 17,000 miles above the surface. Experts are sure that there is no risk of a collision, but if an object of this size did hit Earth, you could only imagine what the damage would be like - think about the 'small' objects that hit before the big one in the movie Deep Impact. Asteroid 2012 DA14's speed will be 7.8km/sec.

17,000 miles may not seem like much when you take in the scales of everything else in the Solar System, but think of it this way (as Terry Mosely put it recently): It’s just over twice the diameter of the Earth. If a bullet was to miss your head by just twice your head's diameter, you would think that you had been very very lucky!

A magnitude 7 to 7.5, it will easily be seen in binoculars. More info later on exactly where it will be seen from in the sky and its path against the stars.

Not time yet to stock up on the tinned goods anyway!

Seanie.

I had a request from Newsflare for videos of Asteroid 2012DA14
Might be of interest to some of you who are lucky enough to capture it
Newsflare

Deirdre Kelleghan

Dear friends,
As you know, asteroid 2012DA14 will pass close to Earth (within ~28,000km) on Friday, February 15th. A number of GLORIA telescopes (including UCD's Watcher) plan to observe the approach and (hopefully!) retreat of the asteroid. Images will be uploaded to the website: Gloria Project every 5 minutes or so (weather permitting).
We have also created a Flickr group: Gloria Project Flickr Group images and would love if you shared your own images through the group.

Posted by Deirdre Kelleghan on behalf of Dr Lorraine Hanlon UCD Gloria Project

Folks, weather permitting, I will be doing a live webcast of the flyby from Raheny. The forecast is VERY hit and miss so we just have to wait and see. The webcast will be broadcast at

webtreatz.com/index.php/articles/34-gene...rticles/93-2012-da14

There is some maps and some background info on 2012DA14 there too,

Here's hoping for some clear skies.

Dave.

Best of luck to all , hope Irish skies smile on our keen observers :scope:

Deirdre Kelleghan

clouded out here in limerick,
nasa are currently streaming it from an observatory in australia on nasa tv its going pretty fast !!
satellite images show a potential gap coming in from the west,
hope you guys see something in dublin.