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June
2005
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12 June 2005 - Sunday
Hungaria discovery: From David Healy at Junk Bond Observatory in southern Arizona comes word of his discovery of 2005 LG15 on June 5th, which was confirmed on the 8th by the Siding Spring Survey in Australia and by David Healy himself on the 10th.
Hungarias are interesting because they are a class of asteroids that, unlike garden-variety Main Belt asteroids, have highly unusual orbits. The class gets its name from the asteroid 434 Hungaria, the first of the type to be discovered. Because Hungarias' orbits have a very large angle of inclination to the ecliptic (or to the main asteroid belt), they often can't be distinguished, when they are first discovered, from potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) or so-called "Earth Crossers," i.e. asteroids whose orbits intersect the Earth's and might someday hit us. So, when a Hungaria(?)/PHA(?) with an ambiguous orbit is first discovered, astronomers scramble to get more observations so that the rock's orbit can be more accurately determined. This was the case with my Hungaria discovery — there was a three-day Chinese fire drill around here until Tim Spahr of the Minor Planet Center was able to conclude that the discovery was a non-dangerous Hungaria and not the end of civilization!
For some more info about Hungarias, which reside in the innermost asteroid Main Belt, visit Petr Scheirich's Asteroid Groups page and Gerard Faure's Description of the System of Asteroids page.
Risk monitoring: Today's Daily Orbit Update MPEC reports observation of 2004 MN4 last night at Pla D'Arguines Observatory in Spain, and NEODyS has very slightly raised its risk assessment.
June
2005
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10 June 2005 - Friday
Risk monitoring: Yesterday's Daily Orbit Update (DOU) MPEC reported observation of 2005 LV7 and 2005 LW3 from Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand on Wednesday, June 8th, and 2005 LW3 from Desert Moon Observatory in New Mexico earlier that day. As a result, both NEODyS and JPL removed 2005 LV7 as a risk, and lowered their 2005 LW7 risk assessments. Today's DOU reported observation of 2005 LW3 from Pla D'Arguines Observatory in Spain last night, and the two risk monitors have now also removed their last impact solutions for this object.
That all makes short work of the most recent discoveries of potentially hazardous objects. With 2005 JP81 now out of view for most observers and quite lost (it hasn't been reported observed since May 12th observations in its discovery MPEC), and P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina) now removed from the risk lists, the only remaining object with impact solutions that is currently viewable for some observers is the famous 2004 MN4, which will be in view into mid-July.
NEODyS yesterday very slightly changed its 2004 MN4 risk assessment based on observations reported in the DOU of the 7th.
June
2005
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8 June 2005 - Wednesday
Comet news: Now that P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina) has been reduced from an impact risk to "just" a possible source for a new meteor shower (see next news item), perhaps the biggest news in comets is that one has been discovered that isn't named "McNaught." And yet, the latest, P/2005 JY126 (Catalina) — an asteroidal object announced as cometary yesterday, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona by a different part of the same team that includes Rob McNaught, who is at the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) in Australia. Since the most recent previous first MPECs were issued for comets C/2005 K2 (LINEAR) on May 27th (see news) and P/2005 K3 (McNaught) June 1st (see below), the following four comet discoveries have been announced:
| Comet | First MPEC | Latest MPEC | q | TP | i | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/2005 L1 (McNaught) | 2005-L08 3 June | 2005-L30 6 June | 3.14774 | 2005-12-15.369 | 7.7° | |
| C/2005 L2 (McNaught) | 2005-L09 3 June | 2005-L31 6 June | 3.19950 | 2005-07-08.504 | 152.8° | |
| C/2005 L3 (McNaught) | 2005-L17 5 June | - | 5.33517 | 2008-01-10.955 | 138.8° | |
| P/2005 JY126 (Catalina) | 2005-L36 7 June | - | 3.75314 | 2006-02-21.120 | 20.2° | |
| TP is the time of perihelion. Perihelion distance q is the closest the comet comes to the Sun, given in astronomical units (AU). Earth averages 1.0 AU from the Sun, Mars 1.52 AU, and Jupiter 5.2 AU. Inclination i is the angle of the object orbit's plane to the plane of Earth's orbit, and anything past 90° is "retrograde" — coming around the Sun against the orbital direction of the planets and most asteroids. TP, q, and i here are from the latest MPECs available today. | ||||||
Risk monitoring: After news on June 1st, last Wednesday (see below), the risk monitoring scene was quiet, without any observations of objects with impact solutions reported in the Daily Orbit Update (DOU) MPECs until yesterday, June 7th, when the DOU reported observation of 2004 MN4 from Farpoint Observatory in Kansas early the day before. At last check today, neither JPL nor NEODyS has updated yet on that data.
Risk monitoring actually began to become active again the day before yesterday, on the 6th, when JPL posted 2005 LW3 with many highly-preliminary impact solutions. This object, which is estimated by JPL at roughly 150 meters in diameter, was discovered by the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) in Australia on June 5th and was confirmed the next day by Powell and Farpoint observatories in Kansas and Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand. Today's DOU reports further observation from Consell Observatory in Spain last night and Farpoint this morning UT. NEODyS posted 2005 LW3 yesterday, and today both risk monitors significantly cut their solution counts for it while raising their overall risk ratings, which include impact solutions five and ten years from this November.
Also on June 6th, the Minor Planet Center published a routine update MPEC for P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina) with a collection of observations reported since the previous such item six days earlier (see news and an image). Participating were Panker Observatory on the night of May 27th, Hradec Kralove Observatory in the Czech Republic the next night, and Geisei Observatory on May 30th and 31st. Also on the morning of the 31st, Monte Deva Observatory, CEAMIG-REA in Brazil, Petit Jean Mountain South Observatory in Arkansas, the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona, and Jeffrey Sue in Hawaii using Rent-A-Scope at New Mexico Skies, and that night Ageo Observatory in Japan. CSS's Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS), reported it from early on June 1st, and Frasso Sabino Observatory caught it that night and on the night of the 3rd. Lelekovice Observatory observed P/2005 JQ5 near midnight, and the next morning it was reported from UKAPP in Northern Ireland with the Faulkes Telescope North in Hawaii. San Vito Observatory picked it up that night, the 2nd, as did La Murta Observatory, Alginet Observatory, which also reported it from the night of the 5th, and Suno Observatory in Italy. Observations continued the next morning, the 3rd, at LONEOS in Arizona, at Murcia Observatory in Spain, which also reported it the following night, and at Rodeno Observatory. And P/2005 JQ5 was reported from Japan from Kuma Kogen Observatory on the 4th and Toyonaka Observatory on the 5th.
Yesterday afternoon in Pasadena, JPL removed its one impact solution for this small comet. But the news won't be ending there. CSS, which discovered this object back on May 6th, brings to A/CC's attention that Sky & Telescope has issued an Astro Alert for a possible related meteor shower on the night of 12-13 June. Mikail Maslov's current prediction has a radiant of R.A. 242° Decl. -9° in "extreme northwestern Scorpius" culminating at "0:15 local time," best for southern observers but also possible for northern. Several dozen meteors per hour might be visible, and would be characterized by their radiant and "very slow" speed.
2005 LV7 is a half-kilometer object posted by JPL yesterday and NEODyS today. It was discovered on June 5th by the SSS (part of CSS), which alone confirmed it on the 7th.
June
2005
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1 June 2005 - Wednesday
Comet news: MPEC 2005-L03 today announces the discovery of comet P/2005 K3 (McNaught). The first observations shown from Rob McNaught are from May 20th with the Siding Spring Survey 0.5m Uppsala Schmidt Telescope in New South Wales, Australia. The preliminary calculation has this object coming to perihelion this coming August 22nd at 1.436 AU, roughly the distance of Mars from the Sun.
For more comet news, see the following report.
Risk monitoring: Today's Daily Orbit Update MPEC reported observation of 2004 MN4 with the Spacewatch 1.8m telescope in Arizona early today UT, and today NEODyS very slightly changed its risk assessment.
Yesterday's only risk monitoring news was that JPL lowered its risk assessment for comet P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina), which has a single impact solution in 2085. This resulted from many, many observations reported in an update MPEC the day before (see report and an image).