Monday, November 7, 2011

Tracking 2005 YU55

2055 YU55 is rapidly approaching the Earth. The closest approach is about 0.0021374 AU Nov 8 23:30 UT. It is very faint being a 12th magnitude object so a good telescope is required to see it.



One can follow its approach using the JPL Small-Body Database Browser. This site requires Java to view the plot of the orbit. Center on the Earth and zoom in to follow the relative motion. One can also generate an ephemeris for 2005 YU55 using links on the page.

The conditions for the fly-by favor Europe but after sunset on the US east coast one might be able to track it as it moves towards the Moon. The New Moon is on Nov 10 and may complicate viewing.

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