2021-03-17, 04:22 PM
I'm sure some have heard that the large asteroid, 231937 (2001 FO32)
will pass ~5LD or ~2,013,071Km by our blue planet this weekend. The rock
is said to be ~ 1Km in diameter by some sources but others say 0.55±0.11
km. Anyway, it could be as bright as magnitude 11.6 and moving
~3.5'/min, so easily watched motion. Some sources make it a bit
brighter. The down side is that the windows for observing it are
somewhat small.
On the 19th, it remains fairly low, only getting up to about 20° at
08:00UT during dark time from my location at 30°N.
It's worse in the wee hours of the 20th, loosing a few degrees of
altitude when no moon interference.
The 21st is even worse as it is only up in daylight:-(unless you can
snag it between 5 & 6am CDT! It should be up 18° at 6am moving 190"/min
near azimuth 150°.
If you wait til 7am, you're well into nautical twilight.
You can use ST4 to generate the ephemeris from your location.
will pass ~5LD or ~2,013,071Km by our blue planet this weekend. The rock
is said to be ~ 1Km in diameter by some sources but others say 0.55±0.11
km. Anyway, it could be as bright as magnitude 11.6 and moving
~3.5'/min, so easily watched motion. Some sources make it a bit
brighter. The down side is that the windows for observing it are
somewhat small.
On the 19th, it remains fairly low, only getting up to about 20° at
08:00UT during dark time from my location at 30°N.
It's worse in the wee hours of the 20th, loosing a few degrees of
altitude when no moon interference.
The 21st is even worse as it is only up in daylight:-(unless you can
snag it between 5 & 6am CDT! It should be up 18° at 6am moving 190"/min
near azimuth 150°.
If you wait til 7am, you're well into nautical twilight.
You can use ST4 to generate the ephemeris from your location.
