Early-2025 activity on the mountaintop was largely removing ComCam, and integrating the final LSSTCam onto the telescope. Per my last update, that camera change has happened; time for another post. As observing is getting closer and closer, so too will… Read More »Vera Rubin Update (LATE-April 2025)
Still time to sign up for the European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, this 23 – 27 June 2025 at University College Cork Cork, Ireland. Early bird registration ends Monday, 28 April 2025. eas.unige.ch/EAS meeting/program.jsp: Symposium S6 23-24 June 2025 The future… Read More »2025 EAS Meeting, Cork
That Robin Andrews is a busy writer: April 16, 2025 Robin George Andrews www.newscientist.com/article/2476805-the-race-to-visit-the-asteroid-making-the-closest-pass-by-earth/ Asteroid (99942) Apophis was, a generation ago, calculated to have a slight chance of hitting Earth, in 2029. At under a kilometer in size, it would… Read More »Apophis Mission Grist
An ‘inhuman’-interest piece in MIT Technology Review: April 14, 2025 Robin George Andrews Meet the researchers testing the “Armageddon” approach to asteroid defense www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/14/1114306/space-nuclear-explosion-asteroid-protection-research/ Don’t accuse me of fearmongering just because I include planetary defense coverage in the wider small-body… Read More »Hammer of the ‘Don
The (formerly threatening) asteroid Apophis will make its (safe) pass by the Earth on April 13, 2029. (No coincidence, the UN has also declared 2029 to be the Year of Planetary Defense.) That means four years to prepare scientific observations,… Read More »Apophis T-4 Years Meeting
…and speaking of good publicity: The Vera Rubin Observatory staff describe good installation of its LSSTCam onto the telescope. This major event (all large parts are now integrated) was well-documented, as one might expect. Coverage of the assembly, and even… Read More »Vera Rubin Update (Apr 2025)
I wrote previously (twice and thrice) on the Japanese COIAS Program (Come On! Impacting ASteroids) and its connection to the manga/TV show Asteroid in Love (Japanese: Koisuru Asteroido, abbreviated Koi As). More recognition: comet C/2015 K7 is now named COIAS.… Read More »…COIAS Continued Continued…
Not one but two articles in the BBC today: 4 April 2025 Nelson, S. Asteroid 2024 YR4: Where do near-Earth asteroids come from – and what can we learn form them? (sic) www.bbc.com/future/article/20250312-the-astronomers-watching-the-skies-for-asteroids Molloy, M. Chance of asteroid hitting Moon… Read More »BBC: (small-)Body Bi-Coverage
This is 100% serious. Congratulations to Drs. Glaze and Steinbring: The IAU Working Group on Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN)’s Bulletin 5 issue 4 (Mar 17) (https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/V005/WGSBNBull_V005_004.pdf) has announced two asteroids: (236617) Loriglaze = 2006 JL63Discovery: 2006-05-01 / M. W. Buie… Read More »‘Few New Names
A little light listening for your weekend: the new episode of Startalk ‘radio’ (actually a podcast) will feature Rick Binzel as their guest. Startalk Radio is the podcast of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and a comedian… Read More »Star(-like) Talk with guest Rick Binzel