Topic: Haleakala HI

NASA study reveals new information about Interstellar Visitor Oumuamua

November 15, 2018 |

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – In November 2017, scientists pointed NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope toward the object known as ‘Oumuamua – the first known interstellar object to visit our solar system. The infrared Spitzer was one of many telescopes pointed at ‘Oumuamua in the weeks after its discovery that October.

‘Oumuamua was too faint for Spitzer to detect when it looked more than two months after the object’s closest aproach to Earth in early September. However, the “non-detection” puts a new limit on how large the strange object can be. The results are reported in a new study published today in the Astronomical Journal and coauthored by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

An artist’s concept of interstellar asteroid 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua) as it passed through the solar system after its discovery in October 2017. Observations of ‘Oumuamua indicate that it must be very elongated because of its dramatic variations in brightness as it tumbled through space. (European Southern Observatory / M. Kornmesser)

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NASA reports Asteroid 2002 AJ12 to make close approach to Earth February 4th

February 3, 2018 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on February 4th, 2018 at 1:30pm PST (3:30pm CST / 21:30 UTC). At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon (about 2.6 million miles, or 4.2 million kilometers).

2002 AJ129 is an intermediate-sized near-Earth asteroid, somewhere between 0.3 miles (0.5 kilometers) and 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometers) across. It was discovered on January 15th, 2002, by the former NASA-sponsored Near Earth Asteroid Tracking project at the Maui Space Surveillance Site on Haleakala, Hawaii.

Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on Feb. 4, 2018, at 1:30pm PST (3:30pm CST). At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be at a distance of 2.6 million miles, or 4.2 million kilometers — about 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

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NASA reports Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth February 4th

January 20, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on February 4th, 2018 at 1:30pm PST (3:30pm CST / 21:30 UTC). At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon (about 2.6 million miles, or 4.2 million kilometers).

2002 AJ129 is an intermediate-sized near-Earth asteroid, somewhere between 0.3 miles (0.5 kilometers) and 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometers) across. It was discovered on January 15th, 2002, by the former NASA-sponsored Near Earth Asteroid Tracking project at the Maui Space Surveillance Site on Haleakala, Hawaii.

Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make its closest approach to Earth on February 4th, 2018, at 1:30pm PST (3:30pm CST). At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA reports near-Earth Asteroid to pass by on April 19th

April 7, 2017 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – A relatively large near-Earth asteroid discovered nearly three years ago will fly safely past Earth on April 19th at a distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers), or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to the moon. Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid of this size.

The asteroid, known as 2014 JO25, was discovered in May 2014 by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona — a project of NASA’s NEO Observations Program in collaboration with the University of Arizona. (An NEO is a near-Earth object).

This computer-generated image depicts the flyby of asteroid 2014 JO25. The asteroid will safely fly past Earth on April 19 at a distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers), or about 4.6 times the distance between Earth and the moon. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA discovers Small Asteroid that orbits the Sun and Earth

June 17, 2016 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – A small asteroid has been discovered in an orbit around the sun that keeps it as a constant companion of Earth, and it will remain so for centuries to come.

As it orbits the sun, this new asteroid, designated 2016 HO3, appears to circle around Earth as well. It is too distant to be considered a true satellite of our planet, but it is the best and most stable example to date of a near-Earth companion, or “quasi-satellite.”

Asteroid 2016 HO3 has an orbit around the sun that keeps it as a constant companion of Earth. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Deep Space Network monitors Asteroid’s Halloween flyby of Earth

October 24, 2015 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA scientists are tracking the upcoming Halloween flyby of asteroid 2015 TB145 with several optical observatories and the radar capabilities of the agency’s Deep Space Network at Goldstone, California.

The asteroid will fly past Earth at a safe distance slightly farther than the moon’s orbit on October 31st at 10:05am PDT (1:05pm EDT). Scientists are treating the flyby of the estimated 1,300-foot-wide (400-meter) asteroid as a science target of opportunity, allowing instruments on “spacecraft Earth” to scan it during the close pass.

Asteroid 2015 TB145 was discovered on October 10th, 2015, by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS-1 (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) on Haleakala, Maui, part of the NASA-funded Near-Earth Object Observation (NEOO) Program.

This is a graphic depicting the orbit of asteroid 2015 TB145. The asteroid will safely fly past Earth slightly farther out than the moon’s orbit on October 31st at 10:05am Pacific (1:05pm EDT and 17:05 UTC). (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft observes Comet Pan-STARRS survive it’s trip by the Sun

March 16, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – For a comet, visiting the sun is risky business. Fierce solar heat vaporizes gases long frozen in the fragile nucleus, breaking up some comets and completely destroying others.

That’s why astronomers weren’t sure what would happen in early March when Comet Pan-STARRS, a first-time visitor to the inner solar system, dipped inside the orbit of Mercury.

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NASA says Comet PANSTARRS to make an appearance in March

March 10, 2013 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Comets visible to the naked eye are a rare delicacy in the celestial smorgasbord of objects in the nighttime sky. Scientists estimate that the opportunity to see one of these icy dirtballs advertising their cosmic presence so brilliantly they can be seen without the aid of a telescope or binoculars happens only once every five to 10 years.

That said, there may be two naked-eye comets available for your viewing pleasure this year.

For those in search of comet L4 PANSTARRS, look to the west after sunset in early and mid-March. This graphic shows the comet’s expected positions in the sky. (Image credit: NASA)

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NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer discovers Black Hole shredding a star

May 4, 2012 |

Written by Whitney Clavin
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Astronomers have gathered the most direct evidence yet of a supermassive black hole shredding a star that wandered too close. NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer, a space-based observatory, and the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on the summit of Haleakala in Hawaii were among the first to help identify the stellar remains.

Supermassive black holes, weighing millions to billions times more than the sun, lurk in the centers of most galaxies. These hefty monsters lie quietly until an unsuspecting victim, such as a star, wanders close enough to get ripped apart by their powerful gravitational clutches.

This computer-simulated image shows gas from a tidally shredded star falling into a black hole. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JHU/UCSC)

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