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A Planetary Science Institute (PSI) news release posted at Astrobiology.com reports that ultraviolet observation of comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) from the NASA Galex space telescope produced "radial profiles of atomic carbon emissions" that suggest lower carbon content in some comets than previously thought, which could affect ideas about where comets formed and their influence on life on Earth. This false-color image of C/2004 Q2 is from the Galex NUV grism in March 2005, credit NASA/JPL, U.Wash., and Jeff Morgenthaler.

Contents  on 17 December '10

• IAU Minor Planet Center
  • NEOCP Activity -- ten listings: 1 new, 9 updated
  • New MPECs -- two MPECs
• Observers -- eleven observers
• Impact Risk Monitoring -- nothing to report
• Chronology

Resources:

• Consolidated Risk Tables - the CRT page
    Of 390 risk-listed objects, 352 have had news in the last 31 days. Updated at 1631 UTC on 17 Dec.
• Earth's Busy Neighborhood Traffic Report
    Five objects are known to be within ten LD of Earth today. Updated at 1739 UTC on 17 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 17 December '10

The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 10 listings: 1 new, 9 updated

When last checked at 2248 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's Near Earth Object discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had one new and nine updated listings. Of these, three were "one nighters." So far The Tracking News has counted a total of twelve 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 17 December '10

Minor Planet Electronic Circulars

As of last check at 2248 UTC, there have been two MPECs posted today from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• MPEC 2010-Y09 time-stamped "07:09 UT" - Daily Orbit Update - see below
• MPEC 2010-Y10 time-stamped "21:49 UT" - 2010 YB

MPEC 2010-Y10 - "21:49 UT" - 2010 YB

• K10Y00B   2010 YB (H=20.6 ~257m) from La Sagra Obs. (Dec. 16.16-18p3, 16.24-25p4 & 17.08-10p3), Tzec Maun Obs. Mayhill (Dec. 16.40-45p5), the Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS) (Dec. 16.48p4), Sandlot Obs. (Dec. 17.40-41p3), Wiggins Obs. (Dec. 17.44-46p4), and Bisei Spaceguard Center (Dec. 17.77p5)

<< DOU on 17 Dec. '10 >>  MPEC 2010-Y09 - "07:09 UT" - Daily Orbit Update

• Observations of small asteroids (H>22.0)
• K10X69R   2010 XR69 (arc=3 days, H=25.4 ~28m) from Great Shefford Obs. (Dec. 16.89-92p4)
• K10X03F   2010 XF3 (arc=13 days, H=24.4 ~45m) from Astronomical Research Obs. Westfield (Dec. 14.99-01p4)
• K10R31E   2010 RE31 (arc=3 days, H=25.9 ~22m) from ARO Westfield (Sept. 8.20-23p3 at V=21.8-22.4)
• Observations of other objects
• K10X58X   2010 XX58 (q=0.291 AU, Q=4.393 AU, arc=2 days, H=18.5 ~676m) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 14.34p3)
• K10X51P   2010 XP51 (Q=4.003 AU, arc=7 days, H=18.4 ~708m) from Los Molinos Obs. (Dec. 16.14-15p7)
• K10X45T   2010 XT45 (arc=6 days, H=17.5 ~1.07 km) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 15.15-17p3)
• K10X03J   2010 XJ3 (arc=12 days, H=21.3 ~186m) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 14.99-01p4)
• K10X00G   2010 XG (i=38.8°, arc=14 days, H=20.3 ~295m) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 14.21-22p4)
• K10V65N   2010 VN65 (arc=66 days, H=20.1 ~323m) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 15.03-08p6)
• K10S13D   2010 SD13 (Q=4.305 AU, arc=79 days, H=18.8 ~589m) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 15.01-03p4)
• K10R80N   2010 RN80 (arc=95 days, H=20.2 ~309m) from ARO Westfield (Sept. 14.08-09p4)
• K10OC6K   2010 OK126 (i=52.5°, arc=129 days, H=20.7 ~245m) from David Tholen's team on Mauna Kea (Dec. 6.22-23p3 at R=23.8-24.1)
• K10L86F   2010 LF86 (arc=185 days, H=17.2 ~1.23 km) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 14.01-11p6 & 14.17p1)
• K10J33L   2010 JL33 (Q=4.634 AU, arc=4 opp, H=17.6 ~1.02 km) from Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (Dec. 16.53-56p6 & 16.61-62p6)
• K06V14B   2006 VB14 (arc=3 opp, H=18.5 ~676m) from Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. (Dec. 16.64-66p5)
• J99X35R   1999 XR35 (arc=4 opp, H=17.9 ~891m) from MLS (Dec. 16.17p8)
• 03122   3122 Florence (1981 ET3) from ARO Westfield (Dec. 14.35-50p8)
• 01864   1864 Daedalus (1971 FA) from La Sagra Obs. (Dec. 16.10-12p3)

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Observers  on 17 December '10

Eleven observers appear in today's MPECs.

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Impact Risk Monitoring  on 17 December '10

At last check (NEODyS and JPL at 2238 UTC) there was no risk monitoring news to report yet today. Visit the CRT to view activity in the last four weeks and our ephemerides page for a complete list of risk-rated objects under current observation or having recent news.

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Chronology  on 17 December '10

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