Asteroid
2006vv2's near encounter
1.4.2007
DATA
| Telescope | ED80 |
| Camera | ATIK 1HS |
| Exposure | 135 x 7 s |
| Filter | - |
My first observed near encounter of an asteroid. At the weekend asteroid 2006vv2 passed Earth ata distance about 4 million kilometers. This is the closest encounter (for a bigger asteroid - as 2006vv2 is 2 kilometers in diameter) since asteroid Toutatis passed Earth by 1.5 million kilometers in 2004.
It was fascinating to follow
such a relatively bright (mag 11) object move in real time. Even
a 5 second exposure made a noticeable line in frame.
I timed my observation so that another asteroid (16 Psyche) was
also in view. At the time Psyche was 300 million kilometers from
Earth.
Image processed in K3CCDTools using If Lighter function. No darks or flats used.
Here's a videoanimation of the encounter (xvid-format, size about 300 kb).
