Amateur Images of 2005 YU55 and the Jupiter-Moon Conjunction Pictures

Alright, thanks to the wonderful picture-submitters on Spaceweather.com, we are presented with some pictures of our galactic celebrity friend, 2005 YU55, and the result of the acclaimed Jupiter-Moon conjunction. You may read more about the objects at the links above.

AMATEUR IMAGES OF 2005 YU55

Images are copyright photographer, in order of picture: 1) David Cortner, from Rutherford College, NC, USA. He says, "Here's a stack of 30 second exposures showing this 1200 foot charcoal briquette zooming through the stars of Pegasus... stacked the short frames then added color data after the asteroid left the field. (AT10RC, ST2000XM)." 2) Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero & Nick Howes, from a remote place in New Mexico. They say, "On November 08, 2011 at 23:28 Universal Time (UT), the Near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 passed within 0.85 lunar distances (or 319,000 km or 0.00217 AU) from Earth's surface." 3) Video by Mike Renzi from Lakeville, Massachusetts.

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JUPITER-MOON CONJUNCTION

Images are copyright photographer in order: 1) Tamas Abraham from Zsambek, Hungary. He writes, "On today's early evening I hiked the hill near the little town called Zsambek to capture the conjunction of Moon and Jupiter. I was wandering along the ridge of the hill to find perfect locations in order to take images about the conjunction. It was a nice trekking in the moonlight. Images were taken with Canon EOS 400D & EF-S 18-55 lens." 2) Geir Øye from Ørsta, Norway. He says, "A beautiful conjunction Jupiter - The Moon. On a bright Moonlit Sky on November 8, 2011. Photo details: Canon 500D, Sigma 17-70 mm lens, Canon RC-6 remote controller, and Manfrotto tripod."

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The Results of 2005 YU55, Our Galactic Celebrity

"The encounter with 2005 YU55 has produced an enormous amount of data that is still being processed." said radar astronomer Lance Benner, the principal investigator for the 2005 YU55 Goldstone observations, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “The sequence of images we obtained shows unprecedented fine-scale detail on this asteroid, which is comparable in size to the Empire State Building. The Goldstone images show evidence for concavities, a ridge near the asteroid’s equator, and numerous features that may be large boulders.”

Notes from NASA concerning the videos: "Each of the 28 frames required 20 minutes of data collection by the Goldstone radar. At the time of the observations, 2005 YU55 was approximately 860,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers) from Earth. The resolution is about 13 feet (4 meters) per pixel. 2005 YU55 takes approximately 18 hours to complete one rotation, so the rotation in the movie appears much more rapid than the actual asteroid rotation speed."

Here Comes the Asteroids - 2005 YU55 Starts its Epic Approach

Perhaps now we have heard everything there is to know about 2005 YU55, and it is definitely probable. If you 'Google' the term 2005 YU55, thousands of sites will tell you the day of doom is upon us, and that this asteroid will strike the earth, but we know this not to be true, thankfully. At least we know that astronomers have enough knowledge to say that 2005 YU55 won't strike earth, observe:

I’ve seen some small amount of buzz on the usual conspiracy sites about this asteroid, and I do see some folks trying to play this up a bit (search on "YU55 doomsday" for example), but fear-mongering chatter is surprisingly low for this event. I expect that by this fall you’ll be seeing breathless YouTube videos accusing NASA of covering up a imminent impact — and I don’t say this blithely; it’s happened before. Remember asteroid 2007 TU24? No? That’s because nothing happened, despite the claims of panic-promoters. (From BadAstronomy.com)

The truth is out - 2005 YU55 will not strike earth. And, NASA is ready for the asteroid's passing tonight! Below is an image (courtesy of NASA) of 2005 YU55. "This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was obtained on Nov. 7, 2011, at 11:45 a.m. PST (2:45 p.m. EST/1945 UTC), when the space rock was at 3.6 lunar distances, which is about 860,000 miles, or 1.38 million kilometers, from Earth." Hopefully, the video beneath the picture will work; it is an example video from NASA.

"Radar observations from the Arecibo Planetary Radar Facility in Puerto Rico will begin Nov. 8, the same day the asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at 3:28 p.m. PST (6:28 p.m. EST/1128 UTC)," NASA says as they plan to photograph this close approach. Hopefully, I will be able to find a hoard of photographs to publish tomorrow on the 'effects' of 2005 YU55!! (Hopefully (& definitely) they will not be geological!)

The Truth Behind Near-Earth-Asteroid 2005 YU55

Passing within 0.85 lunar distances to earth, C-type asteroid 2005 YU55 comes again as a successor to the  more infamous Comet Elenin, of which instilled fear into the hearts of many. Although no true connection links Elenin with 2005 YU55, it brings prognostication to those who thought Elenin brought the end of the world. At 23:28 UT on November 8, 2011, this asteroid will fly closest to earth. Come here for ephemerides

This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was generated from data taken in April of 2010 by the Arecibo Radar Telescope in Puerto Rico. Image credit: NASA/Cornell/Arecibo

"An asteroid, bigger than an aircraft carrier, will have a date with Earth early on Tuesday but to the relief of the planet's inhabitants, it poses no danger," NDTV writes. This is surely no passing date - astronomers have been watching this asteroid since early 2011, something which might have not happened if this asteroid was not that important. To give a background of this asteroid, we must first go to the date in which it was discovered: December 28, 2005. It is approximately 400 meters in diameter, and has a magnitude of 21.9, which is very dim (magnitude six is about the farthest you can see with your eye alone). The magnitude of the object on date will be (the brightest) 11.1, interesting, becasue the magnitude on the 8th (mag 26.2) and the 10th (13.7) are so dramatically different.

Amazing to note, 2005 YU55 passed 0.5 lunar distances in 1976, closer than it will on November 8, 2011. (Astronomers did not know of this approach). On November 8, 2011 at approximately 23:38 UT, this foreboding asteroid will make its closest approach to earth: approximately 0.85 lunar distances, or .085 the distance of the earth to the moon (0.00217 AU, Astronomical Units; 325,000 km; 202,000 mi). The next day (11-9-11), 2005 YU55 will pass 0.00160 Au from the moon, a waxing gibbous. (This event will take place at 07:13 UT, reaching a magnitude 11.1, much brighter than its usual magnitude). 2005 YU55 orbits by earth every 1.22 years, although never as close as it does occasionally.

Astronomical Information of 2005 YU55:

Aphelion                                    1.6329 AU (Q)

Perihelion                                   0.65241 AU (q)

Semi-major axis                         1.1427 AU (a)

Eccentricity                                0.42905

Orbital period                            1.22 yr

Mean anomaly                           26.094° (M)

Inclination                                  0.51351°

Longitude of ascending node      39.304°

Argument of perihelion               268.79°

"Although classified as a potentially hazardous object, 2005 YU55 poses no threat of an Earth collision over at least the next 100 years. However, this will be the closest approach to date by an object this large that we know about in advance and an event of this type will not happen again until 2028 when asteroid (153814) 2001 WN5 will pass to within 0.6 lunar distances." (NASA) As NASA wrote, this will be the closest approach of any asteroid until 2028. 2005 YU55 is a big event - so watch the heavens as this "potentially hazardous" object flies past our blue planet!
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Elenin is gone for good! BUT, more people have been foreboding the approach of this asteroid (2005 YU55). Read this YouTube Video title (it is very comical and the writer of the title should be given laud for doing such a great job!) :

WHAT ARE THE ODDS? ANOTHER 9-11 ON 11-9? 

THIS IS TOO FUNNY. THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF THIS VIDEO HAS CERTAINLY DONE HIS RESEARCH, BECAUSE HE CONTRACTED THIS, ABOUT ELENIN: ELE-NIN (ELEVEN-NINE) THAT IS TOO FUNNY!