Camarillo Observatory - Founded 1992
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Camarillo Observatory - Founded 1992
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Apollo Asteroid 2003 XJ7 Imaged At Less Than One Lunar Distance!
Apollo asteroid 2003 XJ7, discovered just a day earlier, is photographed at the beginning of morning twilight from Camarillo Observatory, at a distance of just under one lunar distance. A few hours later, it missed the Earth by a distance of less than half of that to the Moon, making it the fifth closest approach on record. When this 10 second exposure was taken on 6 December 2003 at 13:13:28 UTC (mid-exposure), it was moving across the sky at a rate of 87 degrees per day.
In this animated sequence starting on 6 December 2003 at 08:30 UTC, 2003 XJ7 is approximately 1.5 Lunar Distances away from the Earth. The set consists of 8 images that covers about 2.5 minutes of time. The stars are slightly trailed due to the movement of the telescope along the direction of the asteroid's expected sky motion of 28 degrees per day. |
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