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Old February 8th 13, 08:20 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Sjouke Burry[_3_]
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Default asteroid 2012 DA14 next week

"N_Cook" wrote in :

Sjouke Burry s@b wrote in message
2.10...
"N_Cook" wrote in :

If I go out on Valentine's day next week with binoculars and clear

sky
at the Plough and manage to see this object going zenithwards across
the handle of the pan-handle 21:00 to 22:00 or so, will it be

varying
brightness from tumbling. ?
If it is tumbling before near earth encounter would that
gravitational encounter stop the the tumbling of an asymetric

object?




Yes.
No.


Would the brightness variability be perceivable by simple looking

through
binoculars (if seen at all) and over what sort of periodicity?



Depends on how fast it is tumbling, and how irregular the surface is.