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Planetary News: Near Earth Objects (2009)

Space Rock Swoops by Earth

A Near Earth Object designated 2009 DD45 buzzed the Earth early this morning (Pacific Time), passing within 70,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of the Earth's surface. To give an idea of just how close a shave this was, consider this: 70,000 kilometers is just one fifth of the distance from the Earth to the moon, and only twice the distance at which geostationary telecommunications satellites orbit.

The space rock was discovered only two days ago by Rob McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia, when it was a dim speck about 1.5 million kilometers away. It became brightest when it passed closest to Earth at 13:44 Universal Time, which is 5:44am Pacific Time, and has been getting dimmer ever since. At the point of closest approach 2009 DD45 was over the Pacific Ocean near Tahiti, which means it could be observed from Australia, Japan, and China, but not from North America or Europe.

According to NASA's NEO program 2009 DD45 is a sizable rock, between 21 and 47 meters in diameter.  This is comparable to the size of the Tunguska impactor of 1908. Since the object is in a solar orbit that touches on Earth's orbit, astronomers predict that that 2009 will visit us again in future years.

Jean-Claude Pelle, recipient of a Planetary Society Shoemaker NEO grant for 2007, tracked the space rock fromhis observatory in Punaauia, Tahiti, and sent us this image:

Click to enlarge > 2009 DD45 This Near Earth Object, estimated at around 30 meters in diameter, passed 40,000 miles from the Earth's surface on the night of March 2, 2009. This path seen here is a combination of 64 separate images taken by Noeline Teamo and Shoemaker Grant recipient Jean-Claude Pelle on the night of March 1, 2009 from their observatory in Punaauia, Tahiti. Credit: N. Teamo (Southern Stars Observatories)