Radar_images_of_2004_BL86_and_its_moon.gif
Summary
Description Radar images of 2004 BL86 and its moon.gif |
English:
Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, have released the first radar images of asteroid 2004 BL86. The images show the asteroid, which made its closest approach today (Jan. 26, 2015) at 8:19 a.m. PST (11:19 a.m. EST) at a distance of about 745,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers, or 3.1 times the distance from Earth to the moon), has its own small moon.
The 20 individual images used in the movie were generated from data collected at Goldstone on Jan. 26, 2015. They show the primary body is approximately 1,100 feet (325 meters) across and has a small moon approximately 230 feet (70 meters) across. In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters) or larger are a binary (the primary asteroid with a smaller asteroid moon orbiting it) or even triple systems (two moons). The resolution on the radar images is 13 feet (4 meters) per pixel. The trajectory of asteroid 2004 BL86 is well understood. Monday's flyby was the closest approach the asteroid will make to Earth for at least the next two centuries. It is also the closest a known asteroid this size will come to Earth until asteroid 1999 AN10 flies past our planet in 2027. Asteroid 2004 BL86 was discovered on Jan. 30, 2004, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey in White Sands, New Mexico.
Français :
Images de l'astéroïde
2004 BL86
prises par le
Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex
.
Les 20 images ont été prises le 26 janvier 2015, lors du
passage près de la Terre de l'astéroïde
. Leur résolution est de 4 mètres (m) par
pixel
. Elles montrent l'astéroïde d'environ 325 m d'envergure ainsi que ce qui serait une petite lune de ce dernier, d'environ 70 m d'envergure. Environ 16 % des
géocroiseurs
de 200 m et plus seraient binaires (l'astéroïde primaire et un plus petit orbitant autour de ce dernier) ou triple (2 lunes).
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Date | |
Source | http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4459 ( image link ) |
Author | NASA/JPL-Caltech |
Licensing
Public domain Public domain false false |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA . NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted ". (See Template:PD-USGov , NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy .) | ||
Warnings:
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