Asteroid 2012 DA14 makes its closest approach

Asteroid 2012 DA14 makes its closest approach

February 2013

A small asteroid is passing close to Earth today, well inside of the equatorial ring of geosynchronous satellites that broadcast our TV signals and monitor our weather. The asteroid, designated 2012 DA14 poses no danger to Earth or our satellites and spacecraft, but will be well past the closest approach by the time the eastern US turns to the night side. Also, anticipated cloud cover will likely prevent us from seeing it. If it is cloudy where you are, or your side of the planet will not be facing the right direction, you may follow it via the links below:

If you are fortunate to have clear skies, and live in the northeastern US, this finder chart may help you locate it. Begin as soon as it gets dark as it will be rapidly fading by that time. Large binoculars or small-medium sized telescopes will be necessary to see it. It will appear as a faint star moving amongst the background stars of Camelopardalis and Ursa Minor in the northeastern sky. (Note that the the farter you are from Rhode Island, the less accurate this finder chart will be. This is due to the parallax resuling from the offset between your location and ours at Seagrave Observatory, for which this chart was produced. Normally this is not an issue when describing the positions of objects in our solar system, but this particular object is VERY close to us.)

Seagrave Observatory will not be open this weekend. We are still snowed in and will be clouded out.