Monday, January 11, 2010

Curious Asteroid Flyby

Source - Space Weather News for Jan. 12, 2010: http://spaceweather.com

CURIOUS ASTEROID FLYBY: A curious object is about to fly past Earth only one-third the distance to the Moon. Catalogued as a 10m-class asteroid, 2010 AL30 has an orbital period of almost exactly 1 year. This raises the possibility that it might not be a natural object, but rather a piece of some spacecraft from our own planet. At closest approach on Jan. 13th, 2010 AL30 will streak through Orion, Taurus, and Pisces glowing like a 14th magnitude star. Experienced amateur astronomers are encouraged to monitor the flyby. Orbital elements, images, and more information are available on http://spaceweather.com .

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