Recommissioned NEOWISE Discovers Near-Earth Asteroid

Discovery News ^ | January 7, 2014 | Jason Major

[SunkenCiv]

Less than four months after getting switched back on — and only days after its “next light” images — NASA’s re-commissioned NEOWISE mission has made its first discovery: a never-before-seen near-Earth asteroid 27 million miles (43 million km) away.

Identified in a series of images captured on Dec. 29, 2013 YP139 is a coal-black asteroid about 650 meters — over 2,100 feet — wide. The image above shows the asteroid as a circled red dot as it moved across NEOWISE’s field of view over a period of several hours.

2013 YP139 would be all but invisible in optical light because it’s so dark, but it glows in infrared because it emits heat absorbed from the sun. NEOWISE — formerly just WISE — is an infrared space telescope that’s specially designed to pick up the faintest infrared emissions, making it perfect for spotting these hidden (and nearby) cosmic objects...

While 2013 YP139 is classified as “potentially hazardous” and its orbit may bring it within 300,000 miles (490,000 km) of Earth, it won’t do so for at least another century. Still, thanks to NEOWISE, its path can be monitored to determine where it may end up in the more distant future.

[rjsimmon]

"...may bring..." Depending upon what?

That is right about the orbit of the moon.

Yup and that is why the good Lord put the moon there, to suck up space debris.

[Shadowstrike]

Can we target DC?

[PapaNew]

Well, I believe when that 2100 footer hits we’ll be passing the wine in Heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and watching from Heaven’s Mezzanine.