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Contents  on 29 May '18

• Traffic Report -- four objects
• IAU Minor Planet Center
  • NEOCP Activity -- 13 listings
  • New MPECs -- four MPECs
• Observers -- fourteen observers
• Impact Risk Monitoring -- nothing to report
• Chronology

Asteroid/Comet Connection (A/CC) Resources:

• Consolidated Risk Tables - the CRT page
    Of 936 risk-listed objects, 51 have had news in the last 31 days. Updated at 1550 UTC on 29 May.
  
• Ephemerides for risk-listed objects & close passers
• News archive (old) & news image catalog (discontinued)
• Object Links - mainly for radar targets & close passers (mostly discontinued)
• Observing Campaigns (old)

The latest A/CC news is available via framed access,  RSS news feed, or redirection.

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. To keep track of what's new each day, watch the Chronology section.

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Traffic Report  on 29 May '18

Four objects reported inside ten LD

There are four small celestial objects reported inside ten lunar distances (LD) of our home world today. Nearest is 2018 KN2, which comes its closest to Earth on this passage -- 6.10 LD at 1510 UTC. Even further out, intruders 2018 KW1 and risk-listed 2018 KY2 leave our ten-LD traffic reporting "bubble."

This report was generated at 1840 UTC with follow-up in today's DOU MPEC for approaching objects 2018 EJ4 and 2015 DP155 plus astrometry from mid-month for now departed intruder 2010 WC9.

<< Reading:  Think you have a tough commute? Slate has reposted an article about Spacewatch chief engineer Terry Bressi -- 6837 Bressi (1994 XN4) is named for him, who reports having had 380-plus encounters over the last sixteen years, including arrests, involving local police agencies and the U.S. Border Patrol. This while driving Arizona Route 86, "the only viable major road" connecting Tucson with the telescopes on Kitt Peak. He is again taking his legal issues to court.

Notes: Ten times the distance to the Moon (ten LD) has no astronomical importance but is a useful boundary for reporting about transient natural objects that approach our planet's gravitational sphere of influence (SOI), which has a radius of about 2.41 LD from Earth's center. This puts a focus on some of the most important and very best NEO observation work, representative of the much larger NEO discovery and tracking effort. Object temporal distances are derived by A/CC from JPL Horizons data. See also current sky chart and object details (alt-details), ephemerides, and today's timeline.

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NEOCP Activity  on 29 May '18

The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 13 listings

When last checked at 2358 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's Near Earth Object discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had thirteen objects listed. Of these, four were "one nighters." So far The Tracking News has counted a total of nineteen listings on the NEOCP 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.

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New MPECs  on 29 May '18

Minor Planet Electronic Circulars

As of last check at 2358 UTC, there have been four MPECs posted today from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• MPEC 2018-K101 time-stamped "11:36 UT" - 2018 KB3 - see below
• MPEC 2018-K102 time-stamped "11:39 UT" - 2018 KC3 - see below
• MPEC 2018-K103 time-stamped "11:42 UT" - 2018 KD3 - see below
• MPEC 2018-K104 time-stamped "12:07 UT" - Daily Orbit Update

<< DOU on 29 May '18 >>  MPEC 2018-K104 - "12:07 UT" - Daily Orbit Update

• Observations of recently (no longer) risk-listed objects
• K18K01B   2018 KB1 (arc=12 days, H=20.6 ~257m) from Spacewatch via Kitt Peak Natl. Obs. (KPNO) (May 29.45-46p3)
• K10W09C   2010 WC9 (small asteroid, arc=3 opp, H=23.6 ~65m, close passer) from Olmen Obs. (May 14.87-94p7)
• Observations of close-passing objects
• K18E04J   2018 EJ4 (arc=77 days, H=21.3 ~186m, NHATS target, radar support) from ATLAS Mauna Loa (May 28.42-44p4) and Spacewatch/KPNO (May 29.29p3)
• K15DF5P   2015 DP155 (arc=2 opp, H=21.4 ~178m, NHATS target) from ATLAS Mauna Loa (May 28.42-44p3) and Spacewatch/KPNO (May 29.29p3)
• Observations of small asteroids (H>22.0)
• K18K02P   2018 KP2 (arc=2 days, H=24.6 ~41m) from Astronomical Research Obs. Westfield (May 24.31-32p5)
• K18J01W   2018 JW1 (arc=22 days, H=22.4 ~112m) from Spacewatch/KPNO (May 29.25-28p3)
• Observations of other objects
• K18J02Z   2018 JZ2 (arc=13 days, H=21.7 ~155m) from ARO Westfield (May 25.18-20p3 at V=22.1-2)
• K18G04M   2018 GM4 (arc=41 days, H=21.5 ~170m) from ARO Westfield (May 22.21-24p3 at V=22.1-3)
• K17S14B   2017 SB14 (arc=248 days, H=21.0 ~214m) from ARO Westfield (May 22.27-31p3 at V=22.3-5)
• K15FB8P   2015 FP118 (arc=2 opp, H=19.3 ~467m) from Steven M. Tilley via iTelescope Obs. Siding Spring (May 28.53-56p3)
• K14N03E   2014 NE3 (arc=2 opp, H=20.1 ~323m) from Spacewatch/KPNO (May 29.36-39p3)
• K09Q09J   2009 QJ9 (Q=4.405 AU, arc=2 opp, H=19.4 ~446m) from Spacewatch/KPNO (May 29.32-34p2)
• K04T01P   2004 TP1 (arc=4 opp, H=20.6 ~257m) from Spacewatch/KPNO (May 29.16-18p3 at R=21.7-22.3)
• p4571   514571 1996 RY3 from ARO Westfield (May 22.21-24p3 at V=22.0-22.1)
• j0648   450648 2006 UC63 from Rand II Obs. (May 10.15-16p3, 14.10p4, 15.16-17p4 & 18.09-10p3)
• a8949   368949 2006 YN from ARO Westfield (May 22.16-19p3 at V=22.0-22.3)
• D9345   139345 2001 KA67 from Northolt Branch Obs. (May 27.99-01p5)
• D8847   138847 2000 VE62 from ATLAS Mauna Loa (May 28.40-43p4)
• 65996   65996 1998 MX5 from UH/Tholen NEO Follow-Up 2.24m Telescope (May 22.60p4)
• 00433   433 Eros (1898 DQ) from ATLAS Haleakala (May 28.59-61p3)

MPEC 2018-K103 - "11:42 UT" - 2018 KD3

• K18K03D   2018 KD3 (H=20.9 ~224m) was picked up at 0817 UT on 25 May by the Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS), observing it at May 25.35-36p4. This detection was confirmed by Steward Obs. Mt. Lemmon Station (May 25.44p4 & 27.33p3), San Marcello Pistoiese Obs. (May 25.86-87p3), and Spacewatch/KPNO (May 28.20-21p3 & 29.23-24p3).

MPEC 2018-K102 - "11:39 UT" - 2018 KC3

• K18K03C   2018 KC3 (small asteroid, Earth MOID=1.2 LD, H=23.0 ~85m) was picked up at 0648 UT on 24 May by MLS, observing it at May 24.28-30p4. This detection was confirmed by Steward Mt. Lemmon Sta. (May 24.34-35p4 & 25.26-27p4), San Marcello Pistoiese Obs. (May 25.91-93p3), the Spacewatch 1.8m telescope (May 27.16-18p3), and Spacewatch/KPNO (May 28.19-20p3 & 29.21-22p3).

MPEC 2018-K101 - "11:36 UT" - 2018 KB3

• K18K03B   2018 KB3 (q=0.345 AU, H=19.9 ~355m) was picked up at 1011 UT on 23 May by MLS, observing it at May 23.42-44p4 at G=20.7-21.8 and 24.45-47p8 at G=20.9-22.1. This detection was confirmed by Steward Mt. Lemmon Sta. (May 23.46-47p3 at G=21.5-8, 25.42p3 at G=21.6-8 & 27.43-45p4 at G=21.0-22.2), Spacewatch 1.8m (May 24.42-43p3), and the Catalina Sky Survey Kuiper Telescope (CSS-Kuiper) (May 24.42-43p4).

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Observers  on 29 May '18

Fourteen observers appear in today's MPECs.

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Impact Risk Monitoring  on 29 May '18

At last check (NEODyS at 2358 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 29 May '18

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