Astronomy Picture of the Day

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zorg.ch
#51122 by @ 03.10.2004 00:00 - nach oben -
Toutatis Nears Planet Earth


Explanation:

On Wednesday, September 29,
asteroid
Toutatis
came within one million miles of Earth -- the
closest predicted aproach of a sizable asteroid or comet to our
fair planet in this century.

Coming within
one million miles or about 4 times the Earth-Moon
distance, Earth would have appeared to be nearly the size of the full
moon in the asteroid's sky.

In Earth's sky,
Toutatis appeared
only as a faint, starlike, but rapidly moving object.

Even so,
asteroid 4179 Toutatis
was still bright enough to see in small telescopes.

Astronomers John Chumack, observing near Dayton Ohio, and
Juergen Wolf from near Palo Alto, California, offer these
composite images showing the progress of the asteroid
(seen as a series of dots) against a background of distant stars.

Their multiple exposures span a two hour period on two different days
about a week before the asteroid's record
close
approach
, which tracked through night
skies south of the celestial
equator.




Credit & Copyright
zorg.ch
#51131 by @ 03.10.2004 19:06 - nach oben -
scho chli lasch diä viele pünktli ...
zorg.ch
#51133 by @ 03.10.2004 19:23 - nach oben -
jo voll. het kei Brüst druf.