2010 TD54 will pass the Earth today at a close distance of 28,000 miles or 45,500 km above the Earth’s surface. It is a small asteroid and probably only measure 5-10 meters across. At its brightest it will shine as a 14th magnitude ‘star’ and will require a large telescope or CCD camera to be seen.
More on TD54 can be found at NASA’s NEO Project Office page.
Asteroid Type MOID a e i H Mag Discoverer MPEC 2010 TQ54 Amor 0.070 2.03 0.49 8.5 24.2 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T83 2010 TP54 Apollo 0.038 2.35 0.59 3.3 21.7 21 Mount Lemmon 2010-T82 2010 TN54 Amor 0.164 2.14 0.45 4.8 19.2 19 Catalina 2010-T81 2010 TM54 Amor 0.202 1.62 0.28 17.5 23.9 21 Mount Lemmon 2010-T80 2010 TK54 Apollo 0.026 1.86 0.50 30.4 18.9 22 PanSTARRS 2010-T79 2010 TJ54 Amor 0.296 1.89 0.32 10.9 19.7 19 Catalina 2010-T70 2010 TH54 Apollo 0.049 1.49 0.35 8.5 23.8 19 Catalina 2010-T69 2010 TG54 Apollo 0.011 1.68 0.53 5.7 26.7 20 Mount Lemmon 2010-T68 2010 TF54 Amor 0.069 3.35 0.68 12.1 19.8 18 LINEAR 2010-T67 2010 TD54 Apollo 0.0003 1.79 0.62 5.1 28.7 21 Mount Lemmon 2010-T65 2010 TC54 Amor 0.146 2.66 0.57 19.7 20.9 19 LINEAR 2010-T64 2010 TB54 Apollo 0.011 1.15 0.28 6.7 26.8 19 Mount Lemmon 2010-T63 2010 TZ53 Apollo 0.085 1.03 0.33 20.3 23.2 19 LINEAR 2010-T61 2010 TS19 Apollo 0.003 2.41 0.70 5.6 25.7 18 Catalina 2010-T59 2010 TQ19 Apollo 0.024 1.43 0.29 14.4 25.3 18 LINEAR 2010-T58 2010 TP19 Apollo 0.099 1.68 0.43 21.0 23.7 21 Mount Lemmon 2010-T57 2010 TK19 Aten 0.042 0.94 0.13 13.0 25.0 18 Catalina 2010-T55 2010 TJ19 Apollo 0.032 1.51 0.32 5.8 26.0 19 Catalina 2010-T54 2010 TH19 Apollo 0.033 1.51 0.34 7.0 20.4 19 Catalina 2010-T53 2010 TG19 Aten 0.003 1.00 0.36 11.1 24.0 20 Catalina 2010-T52 2010 TK7 Aten 0.084 1.00 0.19 20.7 20.7 20 WISE 2010-T45 2010 TJ7 Amor 0.166 1.65 0.30 21.3 19.6 17 Siding Spring 2010-T43 Comet Type T q a e i Mag Period MPEC None 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
Object observed two nights in a row: Oct. 11 &12., approx. 7:45 p.m., in Western sky, Prescott, AZ. The object seems to jiggle and turn red, green, amber, etc. Do you have any idea what it could be?