- Correction
-
- The names 54509 and Toutatis were inadvertently swapped,
so in reality it will be Toutatis that will be brighter than 54509 (The
LD values stated are correct.) Actually, for positive magnitude values
higher the number, the dimmer the object in the heavens will be. Magnitude
is a common measurement of brightness, that can used by astronomy for all
objects in the heavens.
-
- For example, the magnitude of the star Polaris is one
star close to what is considered zero magnitude.
-
- For a good detailed explanation on magnitude, see
- http://www.sci.usq.edu.au/staff/richards/astronomy/magnitude.html
- -----
-
- Everyone has been talking about Toutatis that will fly
by earth in September.
-
- But another asteroid will pass by earth on July 25th,
2004. And it will pass by earth at nearly the same earth distance for at
least the next two years. It will rendezvous with earth at almost exactly
the same place on the earth's orbital plane. This asteroid has been christened
steroid "54509 (2000 PH5) " Although it was discovered 4 years
ago, its certaintly not anything to be ignored.
-
- Asteroid 54509 will be passing our way within 5 LD (lunar
distances) of earth. Toutatis' closest pass to earth will be about 1 million
miles, or 4 LD.
-
- Asteroid 54509 will be approximately 1.25 million miles
from earth on July 25th. Yet 545099 will be almost twice as bright as Toutatis,
with a magnitude of 17 vs.magnitude 9 for Toutatis.
-
- A JAVA ANIMATION (you must have JAVA enabled in your
browser before clicking the following link) of the orbital track of asteroid
54509 is at
-
-
- http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=2000+PH5
-
- This page can take several seconds to load. After it
loads, click the button on your screen to watch the orbit over months and
years. Remember this isn't intended to be a super high precision simulation
of the orbit of a celestial object, but it will provide a good indicator
of where an object will be in the future or past. You can also set the
date you want to see the orbit for, into the past or the future.
-
- If you want to read more about Mars and see NEW pictures
from the rovers Spirit and Opportunity we have found that you have not
seen before, please visit the non-profit
- http://www.data4science.net . There are also some of
the classic Mars pictures like the D&M Pyramid. (The face on Mars will
not be found there.)
-
- You can also participate for free in two ongoing projects
(earth's magnetic pole shift phenomena measurement for wherever you live
on earth, and a section about time jump observations.) Both have volunteers
participating worldwide. Please see the site for details.
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