[meteorite-list] Asteroid 2007 TU24 to Make Rare Close Flyby of Earth January 29

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-012

Asteroid to Make Rare Close Flyby of Earth January 29
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
January 24, 2008

Scientists are monitoring the orbit of asteroid 2007 TU24. The asteroid,
believed to be between 150 meters (500 feet) and 610 meters (2,000 feet)
in size, is expected to fly past Earth on Jan. 29, with its closest
distance being about 537,500 kilometers (334,000 miles) at 12:33 a.m.
Pacific time (3:33 a.m. Eastern time). It should be observable that
night by amateur astronomers with modest-sized telescopes.

Asteroid 2007 TU24 was discovered by the NASA-sponsored Catalina Sky
Survey on Oct. 11, 2007. Scientists at NASA's Near-Earth Object Program
Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., have
determined that there is no possibility of an impact with Earth in the
foreseeable future.

"This will be the closest approach by a known asteroid of this size or
larger until 2027," said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object
Program Office at JPL. "As its closest approach is about one-and-a-half
times the distance of Earth to the moon, there is no reason for concern.
On the contrary, Mother Nature is providing us an excellent opportunity
to perform scientific observations."

Asteroid 2007 TU24 will reach an approximate apparent magnitude 10.3 on
Jan. 29-30 before quickly becoming fainter as it moves farther from
Earth. On that night, the asteroid will be observable in dark and clear
skies through amateur telescopes with apertures of at least 7.6
centimeters (3 inches). An object with a magnitude of 10.3 is about 50
times fainter than an object just visible to the naked eye in a clear,
dark sky.

NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The
Near Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard,"
discovers, characterizes and computes trajectories for these objects to
determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

For more information, visit http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle at jpl.nasa.gov


Grey Hautaluoma 202-358-0668
Headquarters, Washington
grey.hautaluoma-1 at nasa.gov

2008-012