Coming now to a sky near you ...
... an asteroid and its moon. Closest approach of this flyby for 1998 QE2 and its companion will be later today -- 20:59 UTC / 4:59 pm EDT / 1:59 pm PDT, according to SpaceWeather.com -- but viewing for amateur astronomers will be better over the next week, writes NASA's Dr. Tony Phillips.
"Newly-obtained radar images show that 1998 QE2 is a binary system. The 2.7 km wide primary is circled by a smaller 600 meter satellite," Phillips says in his SpaceWeather.com report.
But not to worry -- yet. The pair will whizz by well outside of Luna's orbit on this pass, at a projected 5.8 million km from Earth.
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"Newly-obtained radar images show that 1998 QE2 is a binary system. The 2.7 km wide primary is circled by a smaller 600 meter satellite," Phillips says in his SpaceWeather.com report.
But not to worry -- yet. The pair will whizz by well outside of Luna's orbit on this pass, at a projected 5.8 million km from Earth.
This entry is cross-posted from www.dreamwidth.org, where there are