Russell's Thoughts

Asteriod 2007 TU24

I am something of an amateur astronomer.  I own a 12" Meade LightBridge Dobsonian Truss telescope with which I have made many interesting observations.  In the coming days, there is to be an asteroid passing close enough to the earth so that it can be seen by even small telescopes.  The United States Jet Propulsion Laboratory has information about the asteroid, dubbed 2007 TU24, on a page of their site.  It is to pass as close as 334,000 miles away, but there is no danger of a collision with earth.  The asteroid is between 500 and 2,000 feet across, and it will move through the Northern Hemisphere sky over the next few days.  It will be at its nearest around 0800 hours UTC on Tuesday, 29 January 2008 and its brightest at around 1600 UTC the same day.  (Its nearest position is not the brightest due to its orientation with the sun and earth.  It will have a magnitude of around 10.5 at its brightest.)

In spite of its nearby proximity, observing the asteroid will be somewhat of a challenge because of its small size, but telescopes with as small as a 3" aperture should be able to pick it out.  Actually confirming a sighting will involve making multiple observations and noting the changes of the asteroid's position.  Over the course of a few hours, it should noticeably change position relative to the background stars.  A wide-field eyepiece will probably make it easier to spot and track the object, but even so, it will not be very easy to identify even if it is very easy to see.  I will do my best and report the results.

Update:  To my very great disappointment, weather conditions did not permit my seeing the asteroid.  Bummer!

Lightning can strike twice...

in one place if enough electrical potential remains after an initial strike and the "feelers" remain intact. Every time you see a lightning bolt appear to flicker or even flash many times in a single "strike", it is striking twice (or thrice, etc.) in one place.

Ivan Not So Terrible

Hurricane Ivan came and went last week with much less impact than expected. For all of the hype and destruction in Florida, Ivan was not so terrible in our area. The storm did not seem as violent as Opal, whose track from the coast was somewhat to the east of Ivan's, but Ivan took longer to pass by. On this occasion, there was not so much damage as had been caused by Opal. Along the coast, however, Ivan packed quite a wallop.

In the Eye of the Storm

I am, at this time, in the eye of Hurricane Frances. I recall my mother saying many years ago that she would like to experience a hurricane, but as far as I know she never has. It has been my lot to have experienced three with the worst, by far, being Opal back in 1995. At the time, I lived over 200 miles inland from the location the storm made landfall, but my house was without power five hours before the eye reached shore and did not regain it again until 92 hours later. That was a very frightening weather experience because of the ferocity of the winds. Until then, I had not realized that a Hurricane could do so much damage so far inland. Thankfully, Frances is only dumping a bunch of rain on us, and the winds, while strong, have not done any great damage.