Asteroid 2004 BL86 Encounters the Beehive

In case you missed it, near earth asteroid 2004 BL86 flew right through the famous open cluster known as the "Beehive" in the constellation Cancer last night as it departed from its close encounter with earth. Here's a quick time lapse of images from last night taken with an ST-2000XCM and an Orion ST-80 refractor:

a reply to: ngchunter

Nice!

But what is that red dot that is seen moving slowly and then stopping? An imaging artifact, or an alien spaceship of doom?

When is the next time an astroid will come that close?

Well it didn't actually fly through those sectors of space, as the amount of light years it would take is staggering.

Fantastic. Better than anything I have seen so far from NASA or other observatory.
Great work!

originally posted by: SpaceOverlord
When is the next time an astroid will come that close?

Well there's one coming very nearly just as close tomorrow, but it's only about 10 meters in size.
neo.jpl.nasa.gov...
It'll be about 12 years before any currently known asteroid as large or larger comes as close.

originally posted by: wildespace
a reply to: ngchunter

Nice!

But what is that red dot that is seen moving slowly and then stopping? An imaging artifact, or an alien spaceship of doom?

That was a lingering hot pixel. It stopped when I turned on the autoguiding.

originally posted by: SpaceOverlord
When is the next time an astroid will come that close?

Asteroids come that close (and even closer) quite often, but they are typically just a few meters across. The question should be "when is the next time an asteroid of _that_ size comes that close", and the answer is - not in many years.

If we talk about asteroid of 100 meters or bigger, I think there are some astronomical data one could consult and give a more definite year or even date. ngchunter, maybe you can help?

originally posted by: charlyv
Fantastic. Better than anything I have seen so far from NASA or other observatory.
Great work!

Many people often ask or comment that we don't typically get videos or pictures like that from NASA or any other big organisations or observatories. There's an explanation for that, and it doesn't involve any conspiracies:

NASA and big observatories have limited budget, resources, and time, which get allocated to specific projects. Typically, these things are planned years in advance, and very little (if anything at all) gets done on the spur of a moment.

Amateur astronomers, on the other hand, have all the time they want (when free from work and family), and can follow and document many such celestial events. They have a greater variety of setup, including DSLRs for wide-angle astrophotography and video capture.

In fact, amateur astronomers are a great asset to the professional astronomy. The more eyes on the sky, the better.

originally posted by: wildespace

originally posted by: SpaceOverlord
When is the next time an astroid will come that close?

Asteroids come that close (and even closer) quite often, but they are typically just a few meters across. The question should be "when is the next time an asteroid of _that_ size comes that close", and the answer is - not in many years.

If we talk about asteroid of 100 meters or bigger, I think there are some astronomical data one could consult and give a more definite year or even date. ngchunter, maybe you can help?

In terms of asteroids this size, there won't be an asteroid the size of 2004 BL86 or larger passing this close or closer (that we currently know of) until August 7, 2027 when 1999 AN10 passes earth at just over 1 LD. That asteroid is estimated to be somewhere in the ballpark of 1~1.5 km in size. You can generate close approach tables here:
neo.jpl.nasa.gov...

a reply to: ngchunter

"flew right through the famous open cluster" LOL

originally posted by: ziplock9000
a reply to: ngchunter

"flew right through the famous open cluster" LOL

It goes without saying that this is an apparent alignment, not a physical meeting between the two in space. That's what a conjunction is, an apparent alignment between two astronomical objects.