[meteorite-list] NASA Captures New Images of Large Asteroid Passing Earth (2005 YU55)

[Ron Baalke]

Nov. 7, 2011

Dwayne Brown 
Headquarters, Washington                           
202-358-1726 
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov 

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

RELEASE: 11-375

NASA CAPTURES NEW IMAGES OF LARGE ASTEROID PASSING EARTH

PASADENA -- NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has 
captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to 
Earth. 

The asteroid safely will fly past our planet slightly closer than the 
moon's orbit on Nov. 8. The last time a space rock this large came as 
close to Earth was in 1976, although astronomers did not know about 
the flyby at the time. The next known approach of an asteroid this 
size will be in 2028. 

The image was taken on Nov. 7 at 11:45 a.m. PST, when the asteroid was 
approximately 860,000 miles (1.38 million kilometers) away from 
Earth. Tracking of the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid began at 
Goldstone at 9:30 a.m. PDT on Nov. 4 with the 230-foot-wide 
(70-meter) antenna and lasted about two hours, with an additional 
four hours of tracking planned each day from Nov. 6 - 10. 

Radar observations from the Arecibo Planetary Radar Facility in Puerto 
Rico will begin Nov. 8, the same day the asteroid will make its 
closest approach to Earth at 3:28 p.m. PST. 

The trajectory of asteroid 2005 YU55 is well understood. At the point 
of closest approach, it will be no closer than 201,700 miles (324,600 
kilometers) as measured from the center of Earth, or about 0.85 times 
the distance from the moon to Earth. The gravitational influence of 
the asteroid will have no detectable effect on Earth, including tides 
and tectonic plates. Although the asteroid is in an orbit that 
regularly brings it to the vicinity of Earth, Venus and Mars, the 
2011 encounter with Earth is the closest it has come for at least the 
last 200 years. 

NASA detects, tracks and characterizes asteroids and comets passing 
close to Earth using both ground- and space-based telescopes. The 
Near-Earth Object Observations Program at the Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., commonly called "Spaceguard," 
discovers these objects, characterizes some of them, and plots their 
orbits to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our 
planet. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's 
Science Mission Directorate in Washington. 

The new radar images are online at: 

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/multimedia/yu55-20111107.html 

For more information about asteroids and near-Earth objects, visit: 

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch 

More information about asteroid radar research is available online at: 

http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/ 

For more information about NASA's Deep Space Network, visit: 

http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn 

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