Showing posts with label Near-Earth object. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Near-Earth object. Show all posts

16 February 2013

Asteroid 2012 DA14 caught on camera by Canberra astronomer Dave Herald

Amateur astronomer at Murrumbateman, near Canberra in Australia, Dave Herald has captured a number of photos of near-Earth object (NEO) asteroid 2012 DA14 as it closed in on Earth prior to its incredibly close pass this morning. This photo was four hours before closest point:





His description:
Image is a 4-min exposure from 15H 01m UT to 15H 05m. This bracketed the time when the asteroid was furthest south from the observing site (E07). The image indicates the path was about 7" south of predicted.
This is at five hours:





Increased speed, and change in direction as the asteroid gets close to the south pole, are readily apparent. Image is a 3-min exposure. Asteroid is at -85.4 deg.
This is at six hours: