We have a new moon

Times of India ^ | FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2004 | AFP

[ValerieUSA]

I use an Olympus E-10 digital camera that I've had 3 years ... and a tripod for moon and night shots.

[ValerieUSA]

streetlamp moon

[BenLurkin]

Well, Hoe about this:

Astronomer hunts for remains of Prairie 'fireball'
ROSETOWN, SASK. - One man's space odyssey is taking him to yards across west central Saskatchewan in search of a possible meteorite.

People in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were treated to a fireball that lit up the night sky in a light show on the evening of March 21.

In Rosetown, Sask., witnesses described it as a flash like an airplane exploding, a big red streak and roar. Others reported a strange smell, which astronomers said can comes from the meteor burning off ozone as it goes through the atmosphere.

Geologist and astronomy buff Don Hladiuk captured an image of the fireball with a specially designed camera mounted in his backyard in Calgary.


Don Hladiuk recorded the meteor's flashes from over 300 kilometres away

"It's a cloudy night, you can't see any planets or stars, yet we're seeing flashes, almost lightning in the clouds, so that tells us it was a very large event," Hladiuk said.

University of Regina astronomy Prof. Martin Beech is looking for remains of the space rock, which may have been the size of a grapefruit.

"It's definitely a needle in the haystack search," said Beech. "But if you don't look, I guess you have no chance of finding anything."

Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere before they ever reach the ground to become meteorites.

Beech and other astronomers are so excited about the possibility of finding the rare meteorite because the space rocks can help them learn more about how the solar system and even planets were formed.

"It could tell us about the surface of Mars many millions of years ago potentially," said Beech. "The characteristics of the Martian atmosphere then as well."

Where rocks on Earth have been modified by erosion over time, space rocks can offer a clean record.



Written by CBC News Online staff

[Quix]

Hmmmm

[BenLurkin]

NASA doesn't seem to know how big this thing is (if I'm reading this right:

Asteroid (2003 YN107)
Record: 184957 SPK-ID: 3170221
Alternate Designation: none

OSCULATING ORBITAL ELEMENTS

(heliocentric ecliptic J2000)
Solution ID = JPL#5
Epoch = 2003-12-27 (2453000.5) TDB

e = 0.023486664 i = 4.3801636 deg
q = 0.973789882 AU w = 111.5977836 deg
a = 0.9972110425 AU node = 269.6627668 deg
Q = 1.02063220 AU M = 71.6627742 deg
P = 0.9958 y n = 0.989745 deg/d
TP = 2003-10-15.5947328 (2452928.0947328) TDB

OPTICAL PARAMETERS

H = 26.21
G = 0.15
B-V = n/a
albedo = n/a
spectral class = n/a

AUXILIARY DATA

#obs = 27 data-arc = 16 days

PHYSICAL PARAMETERS

GM = n/a
radius = n/a
Prot. = n/a

Source:http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db_shm?des=2003+YN107

(BTW, I always thought that "osculating" was what High School kids did behind the bleachers, but NASA should know, you know.)

[Quix]

Just so it doesn't oscillate in my vicinity!

[dixie sass]

Well that's very interesting. It must be very tiny 'cause I can't see anything.

[dixie sass]

Oh that's even better.

[BenLurkin]

RECENT CLOSE APPROACHES TO EARTH

1 AU = ~150 million kilometers
1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers

Object Name / Close Approach Date / Miss Distance (AU)/ Miss Distance(LD)/ Estimated Diameter* /Relative Velocity k(m/s)/

2004 FK2 2004-Mar-22 0.0399 15.5 39 m - 88 m 6.92
2004 FA5 2004-Mar-22 0.0262 10.2 29 m - 64 m 10.83 2004 FE4 2004-Mar-23 0.0780 30.4 60 m - 130 m 8.89
2004 FK5 2004-Mar-23 0.0148 5.7 11 m - 24 m 7.76
2004 FN8 2004-Mar-24 0.0123 4.8 10 m - 23 m 3.55
2004 FA 2004-Mar-26 0.0169 6.6 65 m - 150 m 13.97
2004 FW1 2004-Mar-26 0.1397 54.4 210 m - 460 m 20.77
2004 FB16 2004-Mar-26 0.0520 20.2 26 m - 57 m 8.59
2002 GQ 2004-Mar-27 0.0995 38.7 14 m - 31 m 12.00
2004 FY15 2004-Mar-27 0.0016 0.6 16 m - 37 m 8.58

* Diameter estimates based on the object's absolute magnitude.

SOURCE: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/

[Willie Green]

It's probably still traveling just a little too far out or a little too fast to be captured permanently. I have absolutely no idea what the actual dynamics are. I would guess that our original Moon also has some kind of gravitational effect. Maybe when the little one is almost captured, our Big Moon travels closer and snatch's it back out with it's gravity, propelling it away from us like a slingshot. (Just a wild guess)

[Quix]

Ahhhh.

Thanks.

Couldn't figure out how it could be captured enough to orbit for a few cycles but not captured permanently.

[Willie Green]

Couldn't figure out how it could be captured enough to orbit for a few cycles but not captured permanently.

Yeah, with both the Earth AND the Moon tugging at it, the gravitational pull must be too wildly variable for it to achieve a stable orbit. But it would also be cool if the big Moon captured it as it's own little moon!

Hey! Now there's a thought!
I know that several of the other planets have moons, and the big ones have quite a few moons. But I never, ever heard of any of those moons having their own little moons. I wonder if it's theoreticly possible. That would be cool!

[RonDog]

See these SIMILAR threads:

Say hello to our new moon
			Posted by presidio9 On News/Activism 03/29/2004 12:13:58 PM PST with 61 comments AFP ^ | Fri Mar 26, 2004
We have a new moon
			Posted by Willie Green On News/Activism 03/27/2004 4:26:23 PM PST with 71 comments Times of India ^ | FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2004 | AFP

[Willie Green]

Yes. What about 'em?

[RightWhale]

We could try to grab it. Even when it drifts off it won't go far. First one whose robot lands can claim it.