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
- Observers -- eleven observers
- Impact Risk Monitoring -- nothing to report
- 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
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.
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.
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)
- 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)
Observers on 17 December '10
Eleven observers appear in today's MPECs.
|Code||Observer / observatory|
|H21||Astronomical Research Obs. Westfield in Illinois, 11 in MPEC 2010-Y09 -- 2010 XX58, 2010 XT45, 2010 XJ3, 2010 XG, 2010 XF3, 2010 VN65, 2010 SD13, 2010 RN80, 2010 RE31, 2010 LF86, 3122|
|300||Bisei Spaceguard Center in Japan, 1 in MPEC 2010-Y10 -- 2010 YB|
|J95||Great Shefford Obs. in England, 1 in MPEC 2010-Y09 -- 2010 XR69|
|379||Hamamatsu-Yuto Obs. in Japan, 2 in MPEC 2010-Y09 -- 2010 JL33, 2006 VB14|
|J75||La Sagra Obs. in Spain, 2 in MPECs 2010-Y09 & 2010-Y10 -- 2010 YB, 1864|
|844||Los Molinos Obs. in Uruguay, 1 in MPEC 2010-Y09 -- 2010 XP51|
|5682||David Tholen's team on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, 1 in MPEC 2010-Y09 -- 2010 OK126|
|G96||Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS) in Arizona, 2 in MPECs 2010-Y09 & 2010-Y10 -- 2010 YB, 1999 XR35|
|H36||Sandlot Obs. in Kansas, 1 in MPEC 2010-Y10 -- 2010 YB|
|H10||Tzec Maun Obs. Mayhill in New Mexico, 1 in MPEC 2010-Y10 -- 2010 YB|
|718||Wiggins Obs. in Utah, 1 in MPEC 2010-Y10 -- 2010 YB|
|For a list of all participating observatories that have Web addresses, see A/CC's Observatory Links page.|
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.