Observing 4179 Toutatis near close approach

Astronomers based in the British Isles have a fairly limited observing
window for this fascinating near-Earth asteroid over the coming week
or so. Passing through eastern Capricornus and heading south, Toutatis
lies close to the meridian (and consequently highest to the south) at
around 10:30 p.m. BST.

This city-sized planetoid will pass within 1 million miles (less than
four times the distance of the Moon) of Earth on September 29th,
though by that time it will be too far south for U.K. observers to
see. 4179 Toutatis will not break this close approach record until
2562, so make the most of your opportunities!

For more information, see our alerts page:

http://www.astronomynow.com/alerts.shtml#toutatis

Clear skies,

Astronomy Now Online.

(Astronomy Now Online) wrote in message . com...

This city-sized planetoid will pass within 1 million miles (less than
four times the distance of the Moon) of Earth on September 29th,
though by that time it will be too far south for U.K. observers to
see. 4179 Toutatis will not break this close approach record until
2562, so make the most of your opportunities!

It's quite visible right now in a 6" telescope, so there's no time
like the present. I spotted it last night (2004-09-17T06:01:00Z)
within 40 arc-minutes of Kappa Capricorni, from my location in
Southern California. The local sky was hazy and the naked-eye
limiting magnitude was about 4.0, but the little asteroid was not
difficult to see, being noticeably brighter than nearby stars
TYC6367-00594-1 (magnitude 11.86) and TYC6366-00291-1 (magnitude
12.04).

By the way, 4179 Toutatis should come within 3 arc-minutes of Kappa
Capricorni tonight for those in the UK (and even closer, depending on
how late you stay up).


- Robert Cook