<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

The Dawn spacecraft being lowered in its protective container from the mobile service tower on Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, headed into storage until a new launch window opens in September-October. Image left and right credit NASA KSC.

Contents  on 25 July '07

• Minor-Object News -- five items
• Minor-Object Science -- two papers
• IAU Minor Planet Center
  • NEOCP Activity
  • New MPECs -- one MPEC
  • Observers -- nine observing facilities
• Impact Risk Monitoring -- nothing to report
• Chronology

Resources:

• Consolidated Risk Tables - CRT page
• Ephemerides for risk-rated objects
• Ephemerides for small asteroids

The latest news: framed access (best), RSS news feed (flags updates), or redirection - Note: A/CC has a main Web site and a backup site.

Navigation tips: Use the << and >> arrows on the menus for each regular section (Observers, Risks, etc.) to move to the previous and next day's news for that section. Use the Index menu item to access specific days this year through a calendar interface. And use the all-up news archive to access news from any time since A/CC began in early 2002. To keep track of what's new each day, watch the Chronology section.

<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

Minor-Object News  on 25 July '07

• "Meteor Crater still a big hit," CNET News.com 25 July - Note: Photo gallery with various views of the Arizona crater site and a picture of the largest discovered piece of the original iron-nickel object, the Holsinger Meteorite.
• "Quadruple Sunsets Possible on Other Worlds," Space.com 25 July - Quote: "The researchers spied two separate belts of material in the circumstellar disk. One belt sits at 1.5 to 2 astronomical units (AU) from the binary stars and likely consists of fine dust grains. The other [at about 5.9 AU] is probably made up of asteroids or comets... [Between the belts] a budding planet might roam. Alternatively, the researchers think the gap could be caused by a gravitational tug-of-war between the system's four stars... [The] two binary pairs are separated by about 50 AU -- slightly more than the distance between our sun and Pluto."
  • "Spitzer Finds Evidence for Planets with Four Parents," NASA JPL 24 July - Quote: "HD 98800 is located 150 light-years away in the constellation TW Hydrae... The system is still relatively young, at 10 million years old. One of its two pairs of stars is known to be circled by a dusty disk [in which Spitzer] detected gaps. How did the gaps get there? One possible answer is that planets are growing in size and carving out lanes in the dust... The inner gap is about as far away from its central stars as Mars and the asteroid belt are from our sun. The outer gap is about as far away ... as Jupiter is from the sun."
• Bits & pieces: The Minor Planet Center's Status Page reports that "there will be a loss of connectivity into and out of the observatory" tomorrow, Thursday the 26th, due to network maintenance that "will begin at 04:30 EDT and should be completed by 06:00" (0830-1000 UTC). The page also announced yesterday that the "Display all designations for this object" function, disabled several months ago, is now available again on Minor Planet Ephemeris Service query results.
        The JPL Space Calendar lists all kinds of interesting tidbits, from meetings to historic anniversaries, and all with links for further info. Where else would you learn that near-Earth asteroid 2001 WM15 will pass 4 Vesta at 0.010 AU (3.9 lunar distances) on July 30th? (That, however, is based on an observing arc of only four days after this small object was discovered by LINEAR in late 2001.) It also notes that Vesta will occult two stars in August and will itself be occulted by the Moon in December. And the Dawn mission's other destination, 1 Ceres, will be at opposition and its closest to Earth on 11-12 November.
• "Space Sailing: Electro-magnetic Propulsion and Electro-dynamic Braking in Space Applications," PhysOrg.com 24 July - Quote: "A most important ramification of Electro-magnetic Propulsion and Electro-dynamic Braking in Space Applications may be the fundamental change in the logistics of asteroid deflection... It will allow mankind to use the orbital energy of the asteroid itself as the prime source of energy for deflection through an integration of Electro-dynamic braking, vectored electro-magnetic impulse, and Newtonian Propulsion Systems that use scavenged mass from the asteroid and accelerate it using propulsion coils. Perhaps, it will cause a re-evaluation of the decision to use nuclear explosive deflection and fractionation as the preferred approach to this impending challenge." - Note: No author credentials or sources supplied.

<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

Minor-Object Science  on 25 July '07

• "Theory of Star Formation" by McKee, Christopher F. with Eve C. Ostriker, abstract & PDF at arXiv.org 25 July - Quote: "We review current understanding of star formation, outlining an overall theoretical framework and the observations that motivate it... We divide star formation into large-scale and small-scale regimes... Small scales range from dense cores to the protostellar systems they beget. We discuss formation of both low- and high-mass stars, including ongoing accretion. The development of winds and outflows is increasingly well understood, as are the mechanisms governing angular momentum transport in disks. Although outstanding questions remain, the framework is now in place to build a comprehensive theory of star formation that will be tested by the next generation of telescopes." - Note: 120-page, 1.44Mb PDF.
• "The Relationship between the Optical Depth of the 9.7 micron Silicate Absorption Feature and Infrared Differential Extinction in Dense Clouds" by Chiar, J.E. with K. Ennico, Y.J. Pendleton &, abstract & PDF at arXiv.org 25 July - Quote: "We have examined the relationship between the optical depth of the 9.7 micron silicate absorption feature (tau_9.7) and the near-infrared color excess, E(J-Ks) in the Serpens, Taurus, IC 5146, Chameleon I, Barnard 59, and Barnard 68 dense clouds/cores."

<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

NEOCP Activity  on 25 July '07

The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page is currently empty

The NEOCP is currently empty. There were two listings noted earlier today.

<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

New MPECs  on 25 July '07

Minor Planet Electronic Circulars

As of last check at 2354 UTC, there has been one MPEC issued today from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

<< DOU on 25 July '07 >>  MPEC 2007-O42 - "06:08 UT" - Daily Orbit Update

• Observations of small asteroids (H>22.0)
• K07O03H   2007 OH3 (arc=5 days, H=24.6 ~41m) from Astronomical Research Obs. (ARO) (July 24.18-19p6), Jim Young via Table Mtn. Obs. (July 24.38-39p4), and Great Shefford Obs. (July 24.93-94p3)
• Observations of other objects
• K07O00X   2007 OX (arc=6 days, H=21.1 ~204m) from Young/Table Mtn. (July 24.42-43p4)
• K07M24B   2007 MB24 (i=47.7°, arc=29 days, H=18.3 ~741m) from New Millennium Obs. (July 14.96-01p8)
• K07M20T   2007 MT20 (arc=31 days, H=18.7 ~616m) from Great Shefford Obs. (July 24.92-93p3)
• K07M13M   2007 MM13 (i=38.2°, arc=32 days, H=17.6 ~1.02 km) from Peschiera del Garda Obs. (July 18.85-88p3 & 24.87-90p3)
• K07M00H   2007 MH (arc=36 days, H=20.9 ~224m) from ARO (July 24.18-20p3)
• K07L32R   2007 LR32 (arc=61 days, H=17.3 ~1.17 km) from New Millennium Obs. (July 15.01-08p11), Petit Jean Mtn. South Obs. (PJMSO) (July 24.38-39p6), Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (July 24.60-62p9), Eschenberg Obs. (July 24.90p7), and Peschiera del Garda Obs. (July 24.93-94p4)
• K07L15B   2007 LB15 (arc=41 days, H=19.5 ~426m) from PJMSO (July 24.30-31p5)
• K07L15A   2007 LA15 (arc=41 days, H=19.5 ~426m) from Peschiera del Garda Obs. (July 16.90-92p3) and PJMSO (July 24.25-26p6)
• K07L08V   2007 LV8 (arc=42 days, H=20.2 ~309m) from PJMSO (July 24.28-29p6)
• K07L00F   2007 LF (arc=47 days, H=20.5 ~269m) from PJMSO (July 24.29p3)
• K07L00D   2007 LD (arc=47 days, H=18.9 ~562m) from ARO (July 24.13p2)
• K07K04N   2007 KN4 (Q=5.438 AU, arc=65 days, H=17.0 ~1.35 km) from ARO (July 24.38p3)
• K07J40E   2007 JE40 (arc=70 days, H=20.0 ~339m) from ARO (July 24.15-16p3)
• K07H82X   2007 HX82 (Q=4.096 AU, arc=89 days, H=20.4 ~282m) from PJMSO (July 24.32p3)
• K07F00E   2007 FE (arc=2 opp, H=19.5 ~426m) from ARO (July 24.36-37p3)
• K06X00A   2006 XA (arc=235 days, H=17.4 ~1.12 km) from PJMSO (July 24.37-38p6)
• K06S06C   2006 SC6 (arc=3 opp, H=18.0 ~851m) from PJMSO (July 24.40-42p3)
• K04XG4P   2004 XP164 (arc=3 opp, H=17.5 ~1.07 km) from ARO (July 24.33-35p3)
• K04S09T   2004 ST9 (arc=2 opp, H=18.0 ~851m) from New Millennium Obs. (July 14.96-01p8) and PJMSO (July 24.34-35p5)
• K03M09T   2003 MT9 (q=0.200 AU, Q=4.874 AU, arc=2 opp, H=18.7 ~616m) from PJMSO (July 24.36p8), Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (July 24.54-57p4), and Peschiera del Garda Obs. (July 24.84-85p4)
• K02RC9N   2002 RN129 (arc=4 opp, H=18.8 ~589m) from ARO (July 24.31-33p3)
• K01N01Z   2001 NZ1 (arc=4 opp, H=17.9 ~891m) from ARO (July 24.35-37p3)
• K00R37W   2000 RW37 (arc=3 opp, H=19.9 ~355m) from ARO (July 24.33-34p3)
• J99V06O   1999 VO6 from PJMSO (July 24.34p5)
• J98X09C   1998 XC9 (Q=4.211 AU, arc=3 opp, H=18.1 ~812m) from ARO (July 24.27-30p3)
• D6818   136818 1997 MW1 from New Millennium Obs. (July 14.90-95p4)
• 87309   87309 2000 QP from PJMSO (July 24.39p5)
• 85275   85275 1994 LY from New Millennium Obs. (July 14.91-98p10) and Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (July 24.57-58p6)
• 20460   20460 Robwhiteley (1999 LO28) from LINEAR (July 24.35-39p4)

<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

Observers  on 25 July '07

Nine observing facilities appear in today's MPECs.

<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

Impact Risk Monitoring  on 25 July '07

At last check (NEODyS and JPL at 2354 UTC) there was no risk monitoring news to report yet today. See the CRT for activity in the last month.

<<   Top | Contents | News | Science | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

Chronology  on 25 July '07

Times are UTC for when the items were noted or added by Major News.