Small asteroid to whip past Earth on June 27

Small asteroid to whip past Earth on June 27

Newly-discovered asteroid 2011 MD will pass only 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) above Earth’s surface on Monday June 27 at about 9:30 a.m. EDT. NASA analysts say there is no chance the space rock will strike Earth. Nevertheless, the encounter is so close that Earth’s

Co-orbital asteroid 2009BD flyby

Co-orbital asteroid 2009BD flyby

Small asteroid 2009 BD is flying through the Earth-moon system today about 215,000 miles from Earth. The 10m wide space rock poses no threat to our planet, but it is of acute scientific interest.”It’s notable because it remains close to Earth for months at a time and

Watch tonight for Eta Aquarid meteor shower!!!

Watch tonight for Eta Aquarid meteor shower!!!

Bits and pieces of the famous Halley’s Comet will light up the overnight sky in a promising meteor shower, weather permitting, skywatching experts say.The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower will peak early tomorrow morning (May 6) and is expected to put on a

Asteroid impacts in Antarctica

Asteroid impacts in Antarctica

In a controversial study, gravity maps of the Antarctic continent have revealed what could be multiple asteroid impact sites. Gravity anomalies in Antarctica might mark spots where hundreds of thousands of years ago the frozen continent was struck by giant…

Sky watchers – The Lyrid meteors passing by Earth!

Sky watchers – The Lyrid meteors passing by Earth!

 Every year in late April Earth passes through the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), and the encounter causes a meteor shower–the Lyrids. This year the shower peaks on Friday morning, April 22nd. The best time to look, no matter where you live, is

Lyrids meteor shower

Lyrids meteor shower

After 3,5 months of weak meteor activity, the Earth enters the drawn-out dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1). Most years in April there are no more than 5 to 20 meteors per hour during the shower’s peak. But sometimes, when Earth glides through an unusually dense

WISE preliminary data release – 57% of the sky

WISE preliminary data release – 57% of the sky

Finally, WISE team has released a data from its sky-mapping mission representing 57 percent of the sky as seen by WISE. This preliminary release will allow astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts worldwide to explore the sky as seen by WISE. It will also allow the WISE te

Asteroid 2011 GP59 – Close Earth-Moon Flyby

Asteroid 2011 GP59 – Close Earth-Moon Flyby

Newly-discovered asteroid 2011 GP59 is flying past Earth today, April 15th, not far beyond the orbit of the Moon (1.4 LD). There’s no danger of a collision, but the 50-meter space rock is remarkable: It is elongated and spinning once every 7.5 minutes. This causes

Comet Elenin continues to increase in size

Comet Elenin continues to increase in size

April 8th at our observatory we carried out planned observations of Comet C/2010 X1 (Elenin). An analysis of the results of the observations shows a rapid growth of the coma. Besides the internal compact gas envelope, the forming rarified external coma is