The Hindu : New Delhi News : Asteroid to pass by Earth today

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Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008
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Asteroid to pass by Earth today

Madhur Tankha

Not feasible to observe through small telescopes
“Pollution in Delhi, Mumbai skies added problem”

NEW DELHI: The much talked about 2007 TU24 asteroid will be at its closest approach to Earth in its orbit this Tuesday.

According to Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnasree, the asteroid -- discovered last October -- will pass by Earth at 2 p.m. (Indian Standard Time) on Tuesday. “The asteroid will appear the brightest about eight hours later at 10 p.m. the same day due to viewing geometry and effects of solar angle of illumination,” she added.

Dr. Rathnasree said Nehru Planetarium was not planning any public observations of this object. However, amateur astronomer Ajay Talwar will be attempting to observe and image the asteroid with his 8-inch telescope on Tuesday night from locations outside the city.

Pointing out that it would not be feasible to observe this special asteroid through small telescopes, the Planetarium Director said the skies of cities like Delhi and Mumbai have the additional problem of light pollution, further lessening the chances of its visibility. So Delhiites wanting to have a date with this special asteroid -- around 500-foot-long -- will have to make use of state-of-the-art telescopes and not try to catch the asteroid through small ones.

Chandra Bhushan Devgan of the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators, a non-government organisation, said the 2007 TU24 asteroid would whiz past the Earth without causing it any harm. “Normally asteroids orbit between Mars and Jupiter but there are some small asteroids that come close to Earth. These asteroids are called Apollo asteroids. So the 2007 TU24 asteroid falls in this category. It will be another 2,000 years before the asteroid will come close to Earth again. This long period of its orbit explains why these kinds of small asteroids have not been detected so far.”

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