SLOOH Skylog

WHAT: Near Earth Asteroid 2008 TT26

WHEN: October 20/21 and October 22/23

WHERE: Member Channel and SloohRadio

On October 23, 2008, NEO 2008 TT26 will pass less than four lunar distances from our planet, and we‘ll target the event with three Mission Alerts, featuring live missions through the Member Channel and SkyGuide commentary on SloohRadio.

On Monday night, at 21:00 UTC and 02:15 UTC (that’s 5pm EDT and 10:15pm EDT) we’ll observe the approach of this near-Earth asteroid; and then on Wednesday night at 00:30 UTC / 8:30pmEDT, we‘ll witness its actual near-Earth pass. That’s three different alerts, each featuring three back-to-back missions, for plenty of real-time imaging opportunity.

Through the Slooh telescopes, 2008 TT26 will probably appear as a multi-colored segmented line, not as the single star-like object that we often see with more distance asteroids like Ceres and Vesta. Its appearance will illustrate both its close proximity and its speed, with each color filter exposing the quickly moving object in a new location. While even the largest optical telescopes cannot reveal actual physical details of an object like 2008 TT26, it is Slooh’s real-time observations and what the images represent that make events like this such a unique and exciting Slooh experience.

At 49m - 110m (160ft - 360ft) 2008 TT26 is considered a small asteroid. Nonetheless, it is large enough to be potentially devastating in an impact. To compare, Arizona’s Barringer Meteorite Crater was created by a 46m (150ft) object. That impact resulted in a 20-40 ton megablast which produced winds in excess of 1,000km/hour, thermal emission burn damage extending out to 10km, and the scattering of more than 30 tons of iron debris over an eight-mile-wide area. Fifty-thousand years later, there remains a hole nearly one mile wide and 570 feet deep. An impact of this magnitude, today, would destroy a city.

At its closest point, 2008 TT26 will pass within a mere 3.6 LD of our planet. That’s about 860,000 miles or 1.4 million kilometers. Here on Earth, 860,000 miles is a tremendous distance; but in space, 860,000 miles is close enough to warrant legitimate concerns about future passes. Any number of scenarios could influence this near-Earth object’s trajectory and result in a more direct approach toward our planet.

Probably more disconcerting than its size and distance is the discovery date of 2008 TT26, which occurs just fourteen days before its predicted near-Earth pass. Such a timeline, especially with an object the size and distance of this asteroid, underscores the importance of various spaceguard endeavors. What if this object were on a more direct impact path? Would two weeks be enough time to prepare; and what exactly would we do? These are very legitimate, even urgent, questions when one considers Earth’s known impact history and the likelihood of future impacts.

2008 TT26 was discovered October 09 by LINEAR, one of several worldwide spaceguard projects around the globe. The LINEAR project utilizes a pair of Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) telescopes located at its Experimental Test Site in Sorocco, New Mexico. LINEAR is an MIT Lincoln Laboratory program and is funded by NASA and the USAF. The project’s stated mission is “to demonstrate the application of technology originally developed for the surveillance of Earth orbiting satellites, to the problem of detecting and cataloging near-Earth asteroids that threaten the Earth.” To date, LINEAR has discovered more than a quarter-million asteroids and over 2,000 near-Earth objects.

Mark your calendar to join one or all three of our Mission Alerts to watch as NEO 2008 TT26 makes its way past our planet next week. We’ll target it through the Slooh telescopes and talk more about it on SloohRadio. If you haven’t yet done so, be sure to visit the Slooh Chatroom. Events like this are much more fun when shared with fellow astronomers and enthusiasts.

How Do You Slooh? David Mekelburg, who joined Slooh in August of 2007, often uses the Slooh telescopes to image solar system objects - particularly asteroids. In his words, “Asteroids are interesting objects and a subject not well known by the amateur community. I like showing their movement in the sky, much better than a static image. I always google the object to obtain information on it’s history and current status. With spacecraft missions like Rosetta, we gain new insight on these curious objects.”

David, or DaveM as his fellow members know him, reserves time on the Slooh telescopes to take several images of a particular object across a coordinated timespan. He then compiles those images to create animations that illustrate the object’s movement across a background of stars. You may have seen some of his results in the Slooh Forum. Two recent examples include the planet Neptune with its most prominent moon Triton, and a Main Belt asteroid known as Kleopatra.

Last month, David imaged the near-Earth asteroid 1996 HW1 as it passed within 53 lunar distances of our planet:

He also recently imaged Vesta, our solar system’s brightest asteroid and one of the largest objects in the Main Asteroid Belt.

Asteroids and moons are not the only objects that David likes to image through the Slooh telescopes. He’s captured two notable comet events in less than three months, a planet trekking “across” a famous star cluster, and even a lunar eclipse.

In March, he imaged Comet 17P/Holmes sharing Dome 1’s wide-field view with the California Nebula:

Two months earlier, David heralded in the New Year with Comet 8P/Tuttle and Triangulum’s Pinwheel Galaxy:

In late spring, he recorded Mar’s path against a backdrop of the Beehive star cluster:

And in August, we had a lot of fun watching the partial lunar eclipse while David and others recorded the entire event:

If you’re new to Slooh and would like to try imaging transient objects, or if you’ve just never created animations but would like to learn more, David shares his sources. He uses JPL’s Horizon’s Web-Interface to generate coordinates for his missions; and he processes and animates his images using GIMP for Windows and a Gimp astronomy plug-in. David also suggests two Gimp animation tutorials for new users. The first guides you through creating simple animations, while the second is for more advanced users. You might also find Berkeley’s Gimp for Astronomers and the Faulkes-Telescope Project’s Astronomical Imaging tutorial helpful.

The most important thing to remember about using Slooh to track solar system objects, and creating animations with any program, is that its really not that difficult and you’ll find many Slooh members who are happy to assist, both in the Forum and in the Slooh Chatroom. And if you, too, enjoy creating animations with your Slooh images, we’d love to share your work here on the Slooh SkyLog.

If you’d like to see more of David’s Slooh images creations, check out his Animations page in the MySlooh members gallery.

And be sure to check back next month for another “How Do You Slooh?” We’ll  feature a member who targets multiple-star systems, share some of his remarkable images, and tell you how he does it.

NOTE: Each month, we feature a new member and the ways that he or she uses Slooh to explore the night sky. If you would like to share your Slooh experiences, send an email to tavi@slooh.com or tavianne@gmail.com, post a private message to TaviG. in the Slooh User Forums, or post a comment to any of the “How Do You Slooh?” features here on the Slooh SkyLog.