[MIham] Asteroid Flyby

[Frank]

Space Weather News for March 30, 2007
http://spaceweather.com

ASTEROID FLYBY:  Asteroid 2006 VV2 is about to fly past Earth. Tonight,
March 30th, the 2 km-wide space rock will streak through the constellation
Leo only 2 million miles away glowing like a 10th magnitude star. Although
the asteroid will not be visible to the unaided eye, it should be an easy
target for backyard telescopes equipped with CCD cameras.  A movie of 2006
VV2 flying past spiral galaxy M81, featured on today's edition of
http://Spaceweather.com, shows what a small telescope can accomplish.  The
Americas are favored for tonight's flyby, especially southern California
where 2006 VV2 will glide almost directly overhead at the moment of closest
approach around 11 pm PDT.

Note:  There is no danger of a collision.  At a distance of 2 million miles,
the asteroid will be almost 9 times farther away than the Moon. The
encounter is interesting because it affords astronomers an opportunity to
study a large near-Earth asteroid at fairly close range.  Many professional
observatories will be taking data, including NASA radars, which will ping
2006 VV2 to refine its orbit and learn more about its shape and composition.
Learn more at http://spaceweather.com .

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