Special Asteroids

2006 XG1

The roughly 1 km PHA Asteroid 2006 XG1 was imaged from Gnosca the December 11th and 28th 2006. The confirmation observations came first from Gnosca at the day of discovery (see here). In the upper image the object was traveling at 4,15 arcsec/min, PA 36°. Its luminosity was 19,3 mag. In the lower image it was traveling at 3,31 arcsec/min , PA 45° and it was 19,6 mag. For the upper image I took 46 30 s images, for the lower 69 40 s images.
In this latter image a first quarter Moon illuminated the sky. North=up ; East=left.


2007 TU24

The Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2007 TU24 photographed above the european nightsky.  Two 60 s exposures show the rapid motion of this minor planet.
During 24 h its relative-to-the-earth direction of motion changed by about 90 deg !
In the Jan 29th image (right image) the distance to the earth of 2007 TU24 was 630’000 km. North=up ; East =left.

111 0,33 s exposures show the rapid motion of this minor planet in the 20×30 arcmin field of view of my telescope.
The effective transit time in the field of view was less than 11 minutes.
The first image begun 2008, Jan, 28th at 17:57:20 UT.
The last image begun 2008, Jan, 28th at 18:07:50 UT.
The angular speed of this 250 m asteroid was 115 arcsec/min.
At this time its distance-to-the-earth was 720’000 km and was approaching.
Its brightness was about 12,7 mag. North=up ; East=left.

177 0,25 s exposures show the rapid motion of this minor planet in the 20×30 arcmin field of view of my telescope.
The effective transit time in the field of view was less than 13 minutes.
The first image begun 2008, Jan, 29 at 18:10:57 UT.
The last image begun 2008, Jan, 29 at 18:23:35 UT.
At this time the asteroid was already receding from the earth.
Its angular speed was 153 arcsec/min and its distance-to-the-earth was 630’000 km.
Its brightness was about 10,7 mag. North=up ; East=left.


2008 TC3

The West to East motion of 2008 TC3 taken from Gnosca between 22:54 and 23:07 UT, the 6 october 2008. 80 images of 4 s integration time. The brightness of 2008 TC3 was about 16 mag. Field of view: 11 x7 arcmin. North=up ; East=left.


2009 FH

90 3 s CCD images of the 15 m asteroid 2009 FH. At the time of these images, the asteroid was at a distance of 320’000 km. 15 h later it was at the minimum distance of 80’000 km.

Date: March, 17, 2009
Time: about 21:00 UT
Setup: 400mm f/4 newtonian telescope + unfiltered CCD
Field of view: 16 x 12 arcmin
Orientation: North=up ; East=left


2010 AL30

In the evening of the 11 Jan 2010, thru clouds, I could capture the object 2010 AL30. At that moment it was 17,2 magR. The 13.53 Januanry this asteroid will transit at the minimum distance of about 130’000 km from the Earth. Stack of 45 14-s CCD images.
Telescope: 40cm f/4 Newtonian. North=up ; East =left.


2003 UV11

The 12 mag Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2003 UV11 is visible in this movie at the  end of October 2010. The 14 minutes travel time of the 20 x 30 arcmin field of view is here condensed in 14 seconds.

Instruments: Celestron 8 inch and videocamera WAT-120N+.
FOV: 20 x 30 arcmin
N=up, E=left.