2021-12-30, 01:22 AM
Thanks Phil. I ran that rock yesterday morning when I noticed the close Lunar Distance. Looks like for me, it will be high up, moving very fast and in dark skies. Could be as bright as mid 14s. Then (4am local Jan. 2) it drops low into twilight when it really starts whizzing (4'/m-7'/m)! Still out of reach in my 13" as 14th magnitude is my stellar limit from my driveway. I'm going to put some of my friends onto it with the photo rigs. Although it looks like the time uncertainty is +/-51 minutes.
I ran it again just now using the latest JPL elements and from my yard 55 miles north of H-Town, the rock is at 2h22m25s +41°35'26" at 01:21:00CST which puts it 39' south of NGC891 in the NW 26° up. Viewing from Houston moves the rock location ~6" farther south.
An interesting discovery is that when using the latest MPC elements, the rock is plotted 3.56° farther WNW than the JPL elements. I often find this whenever the uncertainty is high. Now showing 7 with 31 observations over a two day arc.
I ran it again just now using the latest JPL elements and from my yard 55 miles north of H-Town, the rock is at 2h22m25s +41°35'26" at 01:21:00CST which puts it 39' south of NGC891 in the NW 26° up. Viewing from Houston moves the rock location ~6" farther south.
An interesting discovery is that when using the latest MPC elements, the rock is plotted 3.56° farther WNW than the JPL elements. I often find this whenever the uncertainty is high. Now showing 7 with 31 observations over a two day arc.