Asteroid Moon Movie   
       
   June 7, 2013: Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep   
   Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have released a new and improved   
   movie clip of near-Earth asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon. The 55 individual   
   images used in the movie were generated from data collected at Goldstone on   
   June 1, 2013.   
       
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssYnC90U0mM   
       
   In this movie, each of the individual images required about five minutes of   
   data collection by the Goldstone radar. At the time of the observations on   
   June 1st, asteroid 1998 QE2 was about 3.75 million miles (6 million   
   kilometers) from Earth. The resolution is about 125 feet (38 meters) per   
   pixel.   Play the movie!   
       
   The asteroid's satellite, or moon, is approximately 2,000 feet (600 meters)   
   wide, has an elongated appearance, and completes a revolution around its host   
   body about once every 32 hours. At any point during its orbit, the maximum   
   distance between the primary body and moon is about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers).   
   Similar to our moon, which always points the same "face" at Earth, the   
   asteroid's satellite appears to always show the same portion of its surface to   
   the primary asteroid. This is called "synchronous rotation."   
       
   The radar data indicate the main, or primary body, is approximately 1.9 miles   
   (3 kilometers) in diameter and has a rotation period of about five hours. This   
   makes 1998 QE2 one of the slowest (with respect to its rotation) and largest   
   binaries that have been observed by planetary radar. In the near-Earth   
   population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters)   
   or larger are binary or triple systems.   
       
   Each of the individual images obtained on June 1, 2013, required about five   
   minutes of data collection by the Goldstone radar. At the time of the   
   observations that day, asteroid 1998 QE2 was about 3.75 million miles (6   
   million kilometers) from Earth. The resolution is about 125 feet (38 meters)   
   per pixel.   
       
   The trajectory of asteroid 1998 QE2 is well understood. The closest approach   
   of the asteroid occurred on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. PDT (4:59 p.m. EDT / 20:59   
   UTC), when the asteroid got no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8   
   million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the   
   moon. This was the closest approach the asteroid will make to Earth for at   
   least the next two centuries.   
       
   For more information about the near-Earth flyby of 1998 QE2 watch the   
   ScienceCast video Big Asteroid Flyby   
       
   Credits:   
       
   Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
   More information and web links:   
       
   Asteroid 1998 QE2 was discovered on Aug. 19, 1998, by the Massachusetts   
   Institute of Technology Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program   
   near Socorro, N.M.   
       
   NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home   
   planet from them. In fact, the United States has the most robust and   
   productive survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects. To   
   date, U.S. assets have discovered more than 98 percent of the known Near-Earth   
   Objects.   
       
   In 2012, the Near-Earth Object budget was increased from $6 million to $20   
   million. Literally dozens of people are involved with some aspect of   
   near-Earth object research across NASA and its centers. Moreover, there are   
   many more people involved in researching and understanding the nature of   
   asteroids and comets, including those objects that come close to Earth, plus   
   those who are trying to find and track them in the first place.   
       
   In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it also   
   partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers,   
   and space science institutes across the country that are working to track and   
   better understand these objects, often with grants, interagency transfers and   
   other contracts from NASA.   
       
   NASA's Near-Earth Object Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, manages and   
   funds the search, study, and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits   
   periodically bring them close to Earth. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object   
   Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a   
   division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.94   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)