Asteroid 2012 DA14 flypast tonight

[nick_gray]

I'm not sure if this is the correct part of the forum, so please move if neccessary.

For those interested, Asteroid 2012 DA14 is going to fly past the Earth at 17,000 miles tonight (which is closer than the moon at 25,000 miles and even some of our GPS satellites). It is about the size of an Olympic swimming pool, so will be difficult to see without some good binoculars or a small telescope, but there are apparently going to be clear skies across most of the UK so we should be able to see it in the east from about 8:00PM.

For a chart of where it will be at what time and further information see here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21442863

Nick

[Jediboy]

Cheers for the info Nick.
I've been thinking about buying a telescope but it won't be here by tonight.

[nick_gray]

Originally Posted by Jediboy

I've been thinking about buying a telescope but it won't be here by tonight.

Me too, but I think it might be another thing to get Gear Aquisistion Syndrome (GAS) over.

Maybe I'll just watch the live feed from NASA http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 from 7PM tonight, their telescope is probably going to be better than I could afford

[Jediboy]

GAS - like that.

Have you seen the footage of the meteor shower in Russia today?
Terrifying.

[Petethebear]

Nick, hope you don't think I'm being too pedantic but you are a couple of stops off with your moon distance. The moon orbits earth at a distance of about 250,000 miles.
Anyone interested in getting into astronomy and/or astro photography may be interested in a new exhibition being held 17 - 18 May this year in Warwickshire. Wex Photographic in attendance as well.
Details at http://www.international-astronomy-show.com
Pete.

[nick_gray]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the correction, now that you mentioned it, my 25,000 miles would make it a bit close!!

Thanks also for the information about the exhibition, it looks really interesting and there appears to be quite a few telescope suppliers attending so I've put the date on my calendar.

Nick

[nick_gray]

Originally Posted by Jediboy

Have you seen the footage of the meteor shower in Russia today?
Terrifying.

I have seen the footage. Very frightening and awful that so many have been injured, I hope none seriously.

[nick_gray]

So much for the BBC weather forecast this morning, saying that we are going to have clear sky, I've just been outside and it's cloudy

I have had a look at the NASA feed (http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2), but it looks a bit like watching a slow motion game of Pong

[Petethebear]

Ah, the bain of astronomers,cloudy skies.
Conversely the photographers friend giving soft diffuse light.

[markgozz]

Just watched the news footage about the meteor shower in Russia , it was like the start of a disaster movie totally amazing .

Had a look outside and yes cloud here too ( Suffolk ) so unless we get a really close pass I don't hold out too much hope of seeing anything .

Mark