News

Flyby of Close Approach Asteroid Captured

(14 September 2012)

As part of the commissioning of Physics' "Far-East-14" undergraduate telescope for the Astronomy Lab, the new-discovered asteroid 2012 QG42 was observed on the evening of 2012 September 11.

By taking six sequences of 100 8-second exposures and then combining theses into animated sequences of the flyby of 2012 QG42 is an impressive sight: movies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. At this time 2012 QG12 was at a distance from the Earth of 3.7 million km, which is extremely close in astronomical terms. 2012 QG42 has an estimate diameter of 310m, i.e. twice the size of Durham Cathedral. 2012 QG42 was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on 2012 August 26 and is relatively large for a near-Earth asteroid. 2012 QG42 is listed as a "potentially hazardous asteroid" by the Minor Planet Center, i.e. it may pose a threat to the Earth in the future and needs careful observations, likely those provided by "Far-East-14", to accurately track its path. For further information contact: Dr John Lucey (john.lucey@durham.ac.uk).