Friday, July 20, 2012

Close Approach of PHA Asteroid 2012 OQ

M.P.E.C. 2012-O13, issued on 2012 July 19, reports the discovery of the PHA asteroid 2012 OQ (discovery magnitude 16.1) by J75 OAM Observatory, La Sagra on images taken on July 16.9 with a 0.45-m f/2.8 reflector + CCD.

2012 OQ has an approximate size of 120 m - 270 m meters (H=21.7) and it will have a close approach with Earth at about 7.7 LD (Lunar Distances) or 0.0197 AU at 1829 UT of July 24, 2012. At the moment of its close approach this asteroid will reach the magnitude 15.9 while moving at 51"/min.

We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp, remotely from the H06 ITelescope network (near Mayhill, NM) on  2012, Jul. 18.3, through a 0.25-m f/3.4 reflector + CCD.

Our confirmation image, stack of 34x20-second exposures


Below you can see an animation showing the movement of 2012 OQ (each frame is a 20-second exposure). Click on the thumbnail for a bigger version:


by Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero and Nick Howes

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