blobrana
03-18-04, 10:02 AM
The Newly-discovered asteroid 2004 FH is going to have a close encounter with our planet (Mar. 18th, 22:08 GMT) , It will come 43,000 km from the Earth's surface!
That just slightly higher than most geosynchronous satellites , that orbit at an altitude of 35,800 km...
2004 FH's point of closest approach with the Earth will be over the South Atlantic Ocean.
Earth's gravity will probably bend the trajectory of asteroid 2004 FH by about 15<sup>o</sup> during the fly-by.
2004 FH measures about 30 meters across, or about the size of a large house. But 2004 FH will still be visible through backyard telescopes, glowing like a 10th to 12th magnitude star as it zips past the Earth...
Epoch = 2004-07-14 (2453200.5)
e = 0.289203089
i = 0.0249479 deg
q = 0.581009455 AU
w = 10.7186973 deg
a = 0.817405712 AU
node = 316.7351445 deg
Q = 1.05380197 AU
M = 28.1526494 deg
P = 0.7390 y
n = 1.333668 deg/d
You`ll have to input these into your astronomy software package to figure out exactly where to look...(it too close, if you see what i mean!).
But europe, asia, and the southern hemisphere will get a good vantage point.
[As a side note, it might turn out not to be a rock at all but a relic from the Apollo missions...]
That just slightly higher than most geosynchronous satellites , that orbit at an altitude of 35,800 km...
2004 FH's point of closest approach with the Earth will be over the South Atlantic Ocean.
Earth's gravity will probably bend the trajectory of asteroid 2004 FH by about 15<sup>o</sup> during the fly-by.
2004 FH measures about 30 meters across, or about the size of a large house. But 2004 FH will still be visible through backyard telescopes, glowing like a 10th to 12th magnitude star as it zips past the Earth...
Epoch = 2004-07-14 (2453200.5)
e = 0.289203089
i = 0.0249479 deg
q = 0.581009455 AU
w = 10.7186973 deg
a = 0.817405712 AU
node = 316.7351445 deg
Q = 1.05380197 AU
M = 28.1526494 deg
P = 0.7390 y
n = 1.333668 deg/d
You`ll have to input these into your astronomy software package to figure out exactly where to look...(it too close, if you see what i mean!).
But europe, asia, and the southern hemisphere will get a good vantage point.
[As a side note, it might turn out not to be a rock at all but a relic from the Apollo missions...]