Podcaster: Dr. Al Grauer
Title: Travelers in the Night Eps. 567 & 568: Close Space Rock & Tough Space Rock
Organization: Travelers in The Night
Link : Travelers in the Night ; @Nmcanopus
Description: Today’s 2 topics:
- Teddy Pruyne spotted 4 foot diameter 2019 UN13 moving through the constellation of Aries at 6 miles/second.
- David Rankin discovered 350 foot diameter 2019 UJ12.
Bio: Dr. Al Grauer is currently an observing member of the Catalina Sky Survey Team at the University of Arizona. This group has discovered nearly half of the Earth approaching objects known to exist. He received a PhD in Physics in 1971 and has been an observational Astronomer for 43 years. He retired as a University Professor after 39 years of interacting with students. He has conducted research projects using telescopes in Arizona, Chile, Australia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Georgia with funding from NSF and NASA.
He is noted as Co-discoverer of comet P/2010 TO20 Linear-Grauer, Discoverer of comet C/2009 U5 Grauer and has asteroid 18871 Grauer named for him.
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Transcript:
567: Close Space Rock
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Teddy Pruyne was observing with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona when he spotted a point of light moving through the constellation of Aries at 6 miles/second. In order to determine its size and path through interplanetary space telescopes in Arizona and New Mexico began to track it. These observations allowed NASA scientists to estimate the new object’s orbit and size.
Amazingly, in only 6 hours this space rock, now named 2019 UN13, increased in brightness by more than 100 times and triggered the NASA Scout system as a potential impactor. In fact, 9 hours after Teddy discovered it, this tiny, 4 foot in diameter, space rock streaked less than 4,000 miles above southern Africa as it passed through the cloud of communications satellites which surround our planet. 2019 UN13’s near death interaction with Earth changed its path radically causing it to head away from us in the direction of the constellation of Virgo.
According to the Purdue University and the Imperial College of London’s impact calculator an object the size of Teddy’s small space rock enters the Earth’s atmosphere once a month, explodes at an altitude of 145,000 feet with an energy of 49 tons of TNT, and may produce fragments for meteorite hunters to discover. If you are fortunate to witness such an event you would be treated to a spectacular light show and perhaps of a new sense of appreciation for Earth’s atmosphere as it protects us from the dangers of space.
568: Tough Space Rock
While observing in the constellation of Cetus with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona my Catalina Sky Survey teammate David Rankin discovered an extremely tough space rock on wild roller coaster path about the Sun. In November of 2017 this 350 foot diameter space rock, now known as 2019 UJ12, was at its furthest distance from the Sun out near the orbit of Jupiter. From there, under the relentless force of the Sun’s gravity, 2019 UJ12 began a death defying trip about our Sun.
At its closest point, on September 22 of 2019, 2019 UJ12 was only 1/3 of Mercury’s average distance from the solar surface and received 9 times the amount of solar energy which heats the planet Mercury to 800F. When David began to track 2019 UJ12 it had crossed the Earth’s orbit and was heading back out of the inner solar system.
In August of 2021 this heat resistant space rock will once again reach its furthest distance from the Sun and start the cycle again. 2019 UJ12 makes one of its scorching solar encounters once every 3.77 years. Since it has made many such passes it must be made of very tough rocky material. If 2019 UJ12 has the chemical composition of a stony meteorite it could contain a sizable amount of iron and in the future could be of interest to space colonists as a valuable source raw materials.
For Travelers in the Night this is Dr. Al Grauer.
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365 Days of Astronomy
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