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The Honolulu Star-Advertiser ran an AP report yesterday that the Pan-STARRS telescope group planned for Mauna Kea has been delayed "by about two years" due to mechanical problems with the prototype on Haleakala. (That instrument is seen here in a photo by Rob Ratkowski, with Mauna Kea in the distance before sunrise, courtesy of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.) This report and a Government Video article seem to indicate there are problems with funding, too.

Contents  on 10 December '10

• IAU Minor Planet Center
  • NEOCP Activity -- 15 listings: 2 new, 13 updated
  • New MPECs -- two MPECs
• Observers -- eleven observers
• Impact Risk Monitoring -- one object
• Chronology

Resources:

• Consolidated Risk Tables - the CRT page
    Of 389 risk-listed objects, 354 have had news in the last 31 days. Updated at 2359 UTC on 10 Dec.
• Earth's Busy Neighborhood Traffic Report
    Seven objects are known to be within ten LD of Earth today. Updated at 1720 UTC on 10 Dec.
• Ephemerides for risk-rated and nearby objects
• News image catalog
• Old & new CRT Archive
• Old News Archive & Small Objects Archive

The latest A/CC news is available via framed access,  RSS news feed, or redirection. - Note: A/CC has a main Web site and also a backup site with its own duplicate RSS news feed.

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 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 | NEOCP | MPECs | Observers | Risks | Chronology | Index   >>

NEOCP Activity  on 10 December '10

The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 15 listings: 2 new, 13 updated

When last checked at 2359 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's Near Earth Object discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had two new and thirteen updated listings. Of these, eight were "one nighters." So far The Tracking News has counted a total of 23 listings on the NEOCP at some point today.

To learn how observers use the NEOCP, see the Practical guide on how to observe NEOCP object at Suno Observatory by Birtwhistle et al.

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

New MPECs  on 10 December '10

Minor Planet Electronic Circulars

As of last check at 2359 UTC, there have been two MPECs posted today from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. No Daily Orbit Update DOU MPEC has been posted yet, so visit the MPC Status Page for possible explanation and check the MPC Mirror Page for alternate access to key pages, maybe including new MPECs.

• MPEC 2010-X86 time-stamped "05:31 UT" - 2010 XN25 - see below
• MPEC 2010-X87 time-stamped "20:08 UT" - 2010 XR45

MPEC 2010-X87 - "20:08 UT" - 2010 XR45

• K10X45R   2010 XR45 (Q=4.678 AU, H=21.6 ~162m) from the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) (Dec. 9.12-19p8), Magdalena Ridge Obs. (MRO) (Dec. 9.21-23p4), Astronomical Research Obs. Westfield (Dec. 9.22-23p6), Mike Hicks via Table Mtn. Obs. (Dec. 9.26-27p3), Bisei Spaceguard Center (Dec. 9.44-47p7), Farra d'Isonzo Obs. (Dec. 9.84-87p4), Remanzacco Obs. (Dec. 9.84p2), Schiaparelli Obs. (Dec. 9.92-94p2), the Spacewatch 1.8m telescope (Dec. 10.07-08p3), and CAST Obs. (Dec. 10.79-80p2)

MPEC 2010-X86 - "05:31 UT" - 2010 XN25

• K10X25N   2010 XN25 (small asteroid, H=24.9 ~35m) from the Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS) (Dec. 9.11-14p4 & 10.19-22p4), MRO (Dec. 9.19-21p4), and ARO Westfield (Dec. 9.21-23p3)

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

Observers  on 10 December '10

Eleven observers appear in today's MPECs.

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

Impact Risk Monitoring  on 10 December '10

Legend: VI# = VI count, Prob Cum = cumulative probability, PS Cum/Max = cumulative/maximum Palermo Scale, TS = Torino Scale

An impact solution, also known as a "virtual impactor" (VI), is not a prediction but rather a possibility derived from a variant orbit calculation that cannot be eliminated yet based on the existing data. Elimination can come quickly with just a little further observation or may take weeks or months, sometimes years. Once superceded or eliminated, a former impact solution has zero relevance to an object's risk. See Jon Giorgini's "Understanding Risk Pages" to learn more.

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Chronology  on 10 December '10

Times are UTC for when items were noted or added by The Tracking News.