[ad_1]
For as long as he can remember, Cole Gregg has been interested in space. Last week, the Western University astronomy graduate student spent a night he will never forget when he spotted an undiscovered asteroid flashing in the night sky.
Studying at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gregg is one of several astronomers with remote access to a telescope based in Nerpio, Spain, at an observatory known as Astrocamp.
While operating the telescope, located atop a mountain in Spain, Gregg noticed a bright spot moving rapidly across his field of view. Upon further investigation with Western astronomy professor Paul Wiegert, the object turned out to be a small asteroid estimated to be 50 to 100 meters in diameter that traverses near-Earth space.
“It is a rare pleasure to be the first person to spot one of these visitors in the vicinity of our planet,” said Wiegert, Gregg’s research consultant. “Astronomers around the world continuously monitor near-Earth space for asteroids, so this is certainly a flagship Cole’s hat. “
Gregg spotted the asteroid, which now has the temporary designation ALA2xH, on Wednesday 18 November. Once the asteroid was observed, the measurements of the observation were sent to the Minor Planet Center (MPC) in Cambridge, Mass. When MPC determines that the observation is unique, as it was, it is placed in their “Near- Earth Object Confirmation Page “(NEOCP), where the estimated orbit of the asteroid is calculated in the hope of capturing an image again. But Gregg says, no luck yet.
“We tried again to recover ALA2xH from the initial observation, but with no luck due to the weather and unavailability of the telescopes,” said Gregg.
Despite everything that’s happening in the world right now, Gregg says it’s been great to keep taking pictures remotely with a telescope over the Internet.
“Even though my current project is all about finding asteroids in the sky, you’re never quite ready to see one that nobody has yet and all from the comfort of my home. There’s something very interesting about that,” said Gregg. .
Related links
Western University
News, science and technology on asteroid and comet missions
|
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been so difficult to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blocker and Facebook, our traditional sources of revenue through quality network advertising continue to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don’t have a paywall, with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and helpful, consider becoming a regular supporter or make a one-time contribution for now. |
||
|
SpaceDaily monthly supporter $ 5 + billed monthly |
 |
SpaceDaily collaborator $ 5 billed once credit card or paypal |
DESTINY + as Germany and Japan begin a new asteroid mission
Berlin, Germany (SPX) November 13, 2020
How did life come to Earth? To investigate this and answer fundamental questions about the evolution of celestial bodies in our Solar System, the Japanese-German space mission DESTINY + (Space technology demonstration and experiment for interplanetary travel with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science), will be launched in 2024 on a journey to asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The German instrument DESTINY + Dust Analyzer (DDA) aboard the Japanese spacecraft will examine cosmic dust during the entire ph … read more
[ad_2]
Source link
