Since my last ‘Recent Discoveries’ posting (on Oct 1) 18 new NEAs have been announced. These objects were discovered by 6 different surveys (7 by the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona, 7 by Spacewatch in Arizona, 1 by LINEAR in New Mexico, 1 by La Sagra Survey in Spain, 1 by Pan-STARRS in Hawaii, and 1 by WISE in space). Though the Siding Spring Survey did not report any new NEAs, Rob McNaught did make his 57th comet discovery (and 73rd for the Siding Spring Survey).
2010 SC17 is the 2nd discovery by Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System). Currently operating a single 1.8-m telescope on Haleakala Mountain on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Pan-STARRS should be a major player in the NEA discovery game for years to come. The long-term goal is to build 4 Pan-STARSS telescopes allowing their searches to push fainter than any of the current surveys.
The WISE spacecraft is nearing the end of its operational life. Its thermal infrared instruments are running low on the cryogenic coolants needed to keep them cold enough to detect cold objects such as comets and asteroids. Two of its four filter bands can still be used to hunt for unknown asteroids and comets. A press release describing the extended NEO survey mission can be found here. The extended mission will allow WISE to survey the sky for another few months.
Asteroid Type MOID a e i H Mag Discoverer MPEC 2010 TK6 Amor 0.261 1.76 0.36 30.5 21.3 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T29 2010 TU5 Apollo 0.091 2.26 0.69 14.9 19.0 21 Spacewatch 2010-T26 2010 TN4 Apollo 0.010 1.72 0.43 2.9 27.2 19 LINEAR 2010-T23 2010 TM4 Amor 0.064 1.98 0.47 5.1 22.6 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T22 2010 TN3 Amor 0.259 1.58 0.22 27.6 22.3 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T20 2010 TM3 Amor 0.137 1.43 0.22 8.6 20.5 18 La Sagra 2010-T19 2010 TM Apollo 0.146 1.17 0.29 13.1 19.3 20 Spacewatch 2010-T17 2010 TL Apollo 0.296 1.19 0.68 22.6 19.2 21 Spacewatch 2010-T16 2010 TK Apollo 0.004 1.29 0.38 0.6 25.3 20 Spacewatch 2010-T15 2010 TF Apollo 0.064 1.43 0.30 22.4 25.6 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T11 2010 TE Aten 0.018 0.91 0.20 5.5 25.9 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T10 2010 TD Apollo 0.005 2.20 0.68 3.1 26.8 20 Spacewatch 2010-T09 2010 SC17 Apollo 0.024 2.37 0.68 5.6 22.7 22 Pan-STARRS 2010-T08 2010 SA17 Apollo 0.196 1.88 0.57 19.3 19.4 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T05 2010 SZ16 Amor 0.041 2.73 0.62 42.5 20.0 20 WISE 2010-T06 2010 RR179 Amor 0.114 2.63 0.61 6.9 20.9 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T25 2010 RA147 Apollo 0.010 2.16 0.66 5.8 19.5 20 Spacewatch 2010-T14 2010 PL80 Apollo 0.010 1.45 0.34 3.4 19.9 20 Spacewatch 2010-T18 Comet Type T q a e i Mag Period MPEC P/2010 T1 (McNaught) JFC 2010 Nov 24 3.19 4.71 0.32 32.1 18 10.2 yrs 2010-T27 Type Aten - Earth crossing with semi-major axis (avg distance from Sun) < 1 AU Apollo - Earth crossing with semi-major axis (avg distance from Sun) > 1 AU Amor - non-Earth crossing with perihelion distance < 1.3 AU JFC - Jupiter family comet HFC - Halley family comet LPC - Long-period comet MBC - Main belt comet ECC - Suspected extinct or dormant (or just unrecognized) comet T - Date of Perihelion MOID - Minimum Orbit Intercept Distance, minimum distance between asteroid and Earth's orbit a - semi-major axis, average distance from Sun in AU (1 AU = 93 million miles) e - eccentricity i - inclination H - absolute magnitude Mag - magnitude at discovery Discoverer - survey or person who discovered the object MPEC - Minor Planet Electronic Circular, the discovery announcement
The Transient Sky - Comets, Asteroids, Meteors 