2022-03-27, 06:20 PM
Hi MP hunters,
It looks like we have another winner. The Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2022 FB2 is predicted to approach within ~150,000 km on Mar 28 at 1200 EDT when it will be in Antlia moving at 17.3"/sec. Max brightness is predicted to be 13.2 magnitude on Mar 28@1000 EDT in Crater moving at 12.5"/sec. I calculated the ephemeris at 2 hour intervals so, if you plan to observe this object, I recommend that you download the MPC's NEAs at Today's Epoch data file using ST4v's minor planet data tools to get the most recent elements & calculate an ephemeris for your observing location. If you just download the elements for 2022 FB2 from the MPC, you'll get the elements for the standard epoch - 2022 Jan 21, though.
This looks like a good object for folks in the southern hemisphere. I hope this is enough warning. Here's the predicted path as seen from Sydney, Australia: [attachment=2302]
Phil S.
It looks like we have another winner. The Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2022 FB2 is predicted to approach within ~150,000 km on Mar 28 at 1200 EDT when it will be in Antlia moving at 17.3"/sec. Max brightness is predicted to be 13.2 magnitude on Mar 28@1000 EDT in Crater moving at 12.5"/sec. I calculated the ephemeris at 2 hour intervals so, if you plan to observe this object, I recommend that you download the MPC's NEAs at Today's Epoch data file using ST4v's minor planet data tools to get the most recent elements & calculate an ephemeris for your observing location. If you just download the elements for 2022 FB2 from the MPC, you'll get the elements for the standard epoch - 2022 Jan 21, though.
This looks like a good object for folks in the southern hemisphere. I hope this is enough warning. Here's the predicted path as seen from Sydney, Australia: [attachment=2302]
Phil S.