Close Approach of Asteroid 2012 TV

M.P.E.C. 2012-T16, issued on 2012 Oct. 6, reports the discovery of the asteroid 2012 TV (discovery magnitude 17.6) by Tenagra II Observatory on images taken on October 05.3 with a 0.41-m f/3.75 astrograph + CCD. 

2012 TV has an estimated size of 24 m - 55 m (H=25.1) and it will have a close approach with Earth at about 0.66 LD (Lunar Distances = ~384,000 kilometers) or 0.0017 AU (1 AU = ~150 million kilometers) at 1504 UT on 7 Oct. 2012. This asteroid will reach the magnitude 13.5 on October 07 around 13-14UT.

We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, from the H06 ITelescope network (near Mayhill, NM) on  2012, Oct. 06.3, through a 0.25-m f/3.4 reflector + CCD.

Below you can see our image, stack of 40x15-second exposures, taken with the asteroid at magnitude ~15.6 and moving at 14.30"/min. At the moment of the close approach on October 07, 2012 TV will move at ~ 815"/min. Click on the image below to see a bigger version.

Below you can see a short animation showing the movement of 2012 TV (each frame is a 15-second exposure). Click on the thumbnail for a bigger version:

UPDATE - October 10, 2012

Below you can find the resulting lightcurve for asteroid 2012 TV using data from two observing sessions on this asteroid obtained separately by Lorenzo Franco and our team. The lightcurve data appears to show a period of 0.0525 h +/- 0.0001 and an amplitude of 0.51 mag.  Click on the image for a bigger version.

UPDATE - December 21, 2012

Our photometry paper has been published on  the latest Minor Planet Bulletin (MPB 40-1) on page 44. You can download it on MPB website or here.


by Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero, Nick Howes & Luca Donato