nearby asteroid '2009 HC82' found orbiting sun backwards

For who's interested:

The discovery of a 2- to 3-kilometre-wide asteroid in an orbit that goes backwards has set astronomers scratching their heads. It comes closer to Earth than any other object in a 'retrograde' orbit, and astronomers think they should have spotted it before.

more at link
new scientist



[edit on 2/5/2009 by GypsK]

yea that is crazy. whats interesting to me is the tilt of the orbit.
I didnt know that was possible, but then again I am no space geek.
as far as I remembered(or thought) I thought anything that was in orbit
was on the same galactic plane. So does this change anything in our views of how space works?
Great find OP.

side note- I hope we are far enough away from this thing, but from the picture it looks as if it crosses our path?

reply to post by GypsK


Nice find, star and flag! Very interesting read, exspecially where they state that somehow it was missed being seen in 2000, when it came close to earth before. We think we know so much about space when we truly know so little.

Below you can calculate the path of the asteroid

The last time it was "close" was around April 26 1999 (HOW could they have missed it???)

Next close one will be around April 20 2012

see for yourself:

asteroid path calculator


That's about all I could find on this for now. I'm not an expert on the topic (just thought it was interesting), but I'm curious about what other people with more expertise think about it


[edit on 2-5-2009 by GypsK]

That is a great find OP,

A star and flag for you.

That discovery should put a kink in a few theories about our universe.

Makes me wonder what else we've missed.

Well it was really close January 10 1999. If you consider 12,281,995 KM close. Next time its coming around in 2012 (I have Jan 4th 2012 being the closest) it will be almost double that distance, 23,636,484 KM away. So luckily it seems be declining towards the sun. Also it's not an "Apollo"... meaning it does not ever cross earths orbit.. so I am not sure why they say its "a potentially hazardous asteroid." It looks like it will get further away till the sun grabs it up thousands of years from now. Maybe a threat to the inner planets though along the way but looks like were in the clear. A very interesting find none the less... especially the odd orbit and that it was not found in 1999 when it was closer.

[edit on 2-5-2009 by SecretUsername]

I wonder how many times it will be mistaken for Nibiru in 2012
I bet we see a thread on here dedicated to it!

IRM

Comet Halley moves backward (opposite to Earth's motion) around the Sun in a plane tilted 18 degrees to that of the Earth's orbit. Halley's backward, or retrograde, motion is unusual among short-period comets, as is its aphelion at a distance beyond the orbit of Neptune.

In 1705, Halley used Isaac Newton's theories of gravitation and planetary motions to compute the orbits of several comets. Halley noted that the computed orbits for bright comets seen in 1531, 1607 and 1682 were similar, and he suggested that the three comets observed were actually one comet making return trips. Halley correctly predicted the next return of the comet‹which occurred in 1758-1759, 16 years after his death‹and the comet now bears his name.

er.jsc.nasa.gov...

Mod Note: External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.


[edit on Sun May 3 2009 by Jbird]

Retrograde orbits would be explained by a primordial collision by an object traveling through the solar system contrary to the direction of other planets with a planet such as the one where the asteroid belt is now.

any shoot of this asteroid?

It's unusual orbit can be explained by it being slingshoted out of it's original orbit sending it on a trajectory into our stellar neighborhood. Space it can be said is akin to a giant billiard table. Knock a ball in a direction it continues on that direction until it encounters an outside force, this case that force would be our sun.

I wonder however with it's proximity to Earth if the danger would be orbital shift due to our gravity well acting on this asteroid. Perhaps the orbit has shifted over time to come close enough for us to detect it. While back in 1999 it was too far away to be seen.

I agree the Chicken Little members of this board will be screaming the sky is falling around April 2012.

It's important to note that the size of this thing while it would be devastating is not a planet killer asteroid. If it does encounter a trajectory that brings it into a collision course with our planet it most likely will break up in the atmosphere and most of it will burn off.

However it may be a case like the Tunguska Event and if that should happen in a populated area would be catastrophic.

Always interesting to hear about facts rather the normal junk on this board. Thanks.

OMFG IT'S NIBURU ARRRRGGGHHHHH!

It does approach relatively close to Mars and Earth twice...but look how close it comes to Mercury, Feb 9.

I mean, we're always worried about how a near miss or a hit on Earth could be to us...but what would the affect be on the solar system if Mercury was struck, or even worse, what if the impact had enough force to change the orbit...even slightly...of course, it probably doesn't have that sort of force...

Originally posted by whatukno
Space it can be said is akin to a giant billiard table. Knock a ball in a direction it continues on that direction until it encounters an outside force, this case that force would be our sun.

I wonder however with it's proximity to Earth if the danger would be orbital shift due to our gravity well acting on this asteroid. Perhaps the orbit has shifted over time to come close enough for us to detect it. While back in 1999 it was too far away to be seen.

hm ok, let's see if I got this right:
The asteroid, which is on a 3.x year orbit, should've been a close one back in '99 but noone noticed it.
You say this is because in '99 it wasn't there yet and entered it's current orbit within the last 10 years?

so that would mean that this asteroid has never been subject to our planets pull before, and since they say this is the closed one to earth in retrogate orbit... I'm sure they'll be calculating the effects of that right now.
btw, I'm not a chicken little

[edit on 2/5/2009 by GypsK]

reply to post by GypsK

The asteroid, which is on a 3.x year orbit, should've been a close one back in '99 but noone noticed it.

Perhaps its orbit has changed over the last 10 years, other gravitational bodies may have altered its course over time.

You say this is because in '99 it wasn't there yet and entered it's current orbit within the last 10 years?

Just speculating, not saying this as a definite fact, just a hypothesis.

so that would mean that this asteroid has never been subject to our planets pull before, and since they say this is the closed one to earth in retrogate orbit... I'm sure they'll be calculating the effects of that right now.

All matter has a specific gravity. Its a variable of mass. Even this asteroid has gravity, not much, but it is there. Perhaps nudges from other bodies on it have affected its trajectory over time. Even it's proximity to our sun has a distortive effect on its path. Even solar winds could push an object over time.

btw, I'm not a chicken little

Not saying you are, but you know there are those that will be.

reply to post by whatukno


thanks for that info

I figure it's going to be like my grandmother said "It the one that you don't see that will get you". My guess is that if an asteroid is headed for us we will have little or no warning. Personally I would not want to know if we were about to be wiped out. The fact is we really can not do much about it if one were to come this way.

reply to post by GypsK

The discovery of a 2- to 3-kilometre-wide asteroid in an orbit that goes backwards

Maybe it's not an 'asteroid' ...

Originally posted by Common Good
yea that is crazy. whats interesting to me is the tilt of the orbit.
I didnt know that was possible, but then again I am no space geek.
as far as I remembered(or thought) I thought anything that was in orbit
was on the same galactic plane. So does this change anything in our views of how space works?
Great find OP.

side note- I hope we are far enough away from this thing, but from the picture it looks as if it crosses our path?

On the topic of the orbit, I would assume with a sphere having the mass of our sun, that gravity is in an equal force in all directions from it, causing a change in trajectory for any satellite traveling close to it. It would continue it's course but be pulled towards the sun, and them ultimately slanted by other gravitational forces it encountered.

It would then, to me, be a combination of force from all bodies close to it within our solar system, which over a long period time have followed the same gravitational effects and settled into an equilibria, that results in any new introduced satellite eventually obeying their gravitational rules.

As you, Im too no space geek, but Im just thinking about it.

If a new comet were to fly past the sun, it would indeed not necessarily be on the same plane as any other planet, but over time, a loooong time for us and s short time for stars, it makes sense.

I shall quit babbling now. *Applause from anyone who read it Im sure*

*Shakes fist at you all!!*

kinda reminds me what Alex Collier and Robert MorningSky say about alien space stations - they carve out asteroids and turn them into mobile space bases.

I'd say with this bit of info that is very very likely!

Just my opinion though.