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Close Approach Image of Asteroid 2012 XE54

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 10:21

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Image of Asteroid 2012 XE54 taken with the the H06 ITelescope network near Mayhill, New Mexico on December 11, 2012, through a 0.25-m f/3.4 reflector + CCD. Credit: Ernesto Guido & Nick Howes, Remanzacco Observatory.

A newly discovered small asteroid named 2012 XE54 passed harmlessly by Earth early today and as predicted it was eclipsed by Earth’s shadow, causing its light to “wink out” for a short time, about 40 minutes.

Above is an image of the asteroid from Ernesto Guido and Nick Howes using a 0.25-m f/3.4 reflector + CCD with the ITelescope facility near Mayhill, New Mexico. It is a single 60-second exposure, “taken with the asteroid at magnitude ~13.2 and moving at ~630 “/min. The asteroid is trailed in the image due to its fast speed. At the moment of the close approach 2012 XE54 will move at ~ 720″/min… North is up, East is to the left,” wrote Guido and Howes on the Remanzacco Observatory website.

Below is an animation showing the movement of 2012 XE54, using three consecutive 60-second exposures. This asteroid was zipping right along at a fast pace, at a distance from Earth of about 226,000 km (141,000 miles) or about .6 lunar distances.

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/#ixzz2EkpwEBKN

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