Near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55

Asteroid 2005 YU55

On November 8, 2011, the near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 pass close to Earth, about 0.85 times the distance Earth - Moon.
The asteroid has a size of 400 meters, which is quite destructive.
The C-type asteroid presents an excellent opportunity for observation, for optical telescopes, and infrared. The accompanying illustration shows the animation of the trajectory of the asteroid near the Earth and the moon, for 8 and 9 November 2011.
The rocky object will reach a visual brightness of magnitude 11 and should be easily visible to observers from the northern and southern hemispheres.
The closest approach to Earth and the Moon will be respectively 0.00217 AU and 0.00160 AU, November 8, 2011 at 23:28 and 7:13 UT on November 9.
He had risen to 2 million kilometers from Earth in April 2010. We can say that November 8, 2011, the asteroid 2005 YU55 we will graze only 325,000 miles from Earth. He placed fifth on the black list of asteroids that could collide with Earth in the near future.
Discovered December 28, 2005 by Robert McMillan Spacewatch Program near Tucson, Arizona.
The almost spherical object 400 meters in diameter, has already been observed by Mike Nolan, Ellen Howell and his colleagues with the Arecibo radar on 19 to 21 April 2010.
This time, scientists will be able to see details of the asteroid with a fine resolution of 4 meters and perhaps even with high resolution imaging provided Arecibo, 7.5 meters.
In addition to the radar observations, infrared observations could verify the characteristics of rotation of the object and provide the nature of the surface roughness of the object and its mineral composition.

Image: The asteroid 2005 YU55 will approach the Earth towards the Sun, the closest to Earth, astronomers can easily observe it with their instruments. The best time for the optical and infrared observations will be late afternoon November 8, 2011, after 21:00 UT. No shooting is passed as close to the Earth and the Moon, since we observe the trajectories of near-Earth asteroids.

The trajectory of 2005 YU55 in 2011

The interplanetary space is far from empty, it is littered with dust and objects dating from the creation of the solar system.
Asteroids and comets and rocky metallic objects, moving at breakneck speed around the planets and our Sun. Sometimes their orbits cross that of a planet or the Earth.
Meteorites and comets bombard our planet since the birth of the solar system.
Although they seem quietly installed in their orbits between Mars and Jupiter, they are sometimes destructive. It will not be the case this time with the asteroid 2005 YU55.
Although classified as a potentially dangerous object, 2005 YU55 is only this time, no threat of collision with the Earth or even for the next 100 years. However, with as large, it is the object to be passed closest to Earth that oversees this kind of event. An asteroid of 350 meters in diameter would cause a crater 6 000 meters in diameter.

The probability of a collision with an object of this size is, once every 16 000 years. The next of this type will not happen again until 2028, when the asteroid (153814) 2001 WN5 increase to less than 0.6 times the distance Earth - Moon.
The next of this type will not happen again until 2028, when the asteroid (153814) 2001 WN5 increase to less than 0.6 times the distance Earth - Moon.

Image: Passage above the ecliptic plane of the asteroid 2005 YU55. Asteroids are our nearest neighbors, they are in one way or another, related to our destiny.
Those operating in the vicinity of the Earth and that cross our orbit are called Near Earth Objects (NEO).