Spotted again:  The Saturday Daily Orbit Update MPEC has observations of 2003 EB50 [link|alt] from Siding Spring Observatory in Australia from December 25th. This was the first reporting since May 3rd for this object that was briefly listed with impact solutions and is roughly estimated at 1.8 km. (1.12 miles) wide.

Distant discoveries:  MPECs 2003-Y79 and 2003-Y80 today announce 21 Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt objects (EKBOs) discovered by Lowell Observatory's Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) using the Kitt Peak 4m telescope during 22-24 October, with follow-up 20-22 and 24 November, plus one more discovery on November 20th. See yesterday's report about DES EKBO recovery/follow-up work done largely at the same time.

article link | top | next

Risk monitoring 27 Dec.

Today's Daily Orbit Update MPEC (DOU) carries observations of the two-kilometer 2003 YT1 from the 25th from Siding Spring Observatory in Australia and from Sormano Observatory in Italy last night. It took until Saturday evening in Pisa for NEODyS to post a new assessment, increasing its impact solution count by two, raising risk ratings, and going to Torino Scale 1 for the first time with any object since 2003 QO104 in early October. (TS-1 is a routine alert that an object "merits special monitoring.") At noon time in Pasadena, JPL also put 2003 YT1 at TS-1, while cutting its impact solution count by two.

Earlier report:  It is interesting and educational to note that yesterday JPL had 237 impact solutions for 2003 XB22, and NEODyS had an overlapping set of 136 solutions, and today both risk monitors eliminated all solutions, based apparently on just four new positions from the 25th, reported from Siding Spring Observatory in Saturday's DOU. These extended the observing arc for this half-kilometer object by 18 and a half hours, from 9.212 to 9.985 days. (The Minor Planet Center Last Observation

page is showing that San Marcello Pistoiese Observatory in Italy caught XB22 yesterday.)

The kilometer-size 2003 YQ94 also was removed today by NEODyS — the only risk monitor that had listed it — after the day's DOU reported a set of observations from Pla D'Arguines Observatory from early today in Spain.

article link | top | more

The DOU has observations of 2003 YD45 from Siding Spring and Pla D'Arguines from the 25th, when Siding Spring also got 2003 YE45. Today NEODyS lowered its risk ratings for YD45 while JPL, now down to one impact solution, very slightly lowered its YD45 assessment. The two monitors split on very slightly lowering/raising their risk ratings for YE45 while cutting their impact solution counts for this kilometer-size object.

2003 YS70 observations are reported from Siding Spring on the 25th, from Sormano last night and Great Shefford and Pla D'Arguines observatories and the Observatorio Astronomico de Mallorca (OAM) this morning in Europe. Today this tiny object comes to about 1.6 lunar distances from Earth.

article link | top