The 1998 KY26 asteroid (the purpose of sunshine the place the 2 traces would cross) was captured by the Hyper Suprime cam connected to the Subaru telescope. The blurring of the background stars is as a result of motion of the telescope monitoring the asteroid. 5 pictures with an publicity time of two minutes every, taken on December 10, 2020 (Hawaii? I Commonplace Time) throughout 2: 04-2: 16, have been stacked to create this picture. The sphere of view is 30 x 15 arc seconds. Picture credit score: NAOJ
On December 10, 2020 (Hawaii Commonplace Time), the Subaru telescope imaged the small asteroid 1998 KYtwenty sixth, the objective of Hayabusa2’s expanded mission. The place knowledge for 1998 KYtwenty sixth The information collected in the course of the observations will likely be used to extra precisely decide the orbital components of this object.
Operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) the asteroid researcher Hayabusa2 delivered a re-entry capsule to Earth on December sixth (Japan Commonplace Time), which contained samples from the asteroid (162173) Ryugu. After this drop-off, Hayabusa2 set off once more, this time for the prolonged mission that used the remaining gas. On this expanded mission, Hayabsa2 is ready to strategy and observe its subsequent target, the small asteroid 1998 KYtwenty sixth.
This asteroid is predicted to strategy Earth inside 0.47 AU in mid to late December 2020, giving us a uncommon alternative that happens solely as soon as each three and a half years. The diameter of 1998 KYtwenty sixth is estimated to be not more than 30 meters, and due to this fact its brightness is so low that ground-based observations of the asteroid are troublesome with out a very massive telescope.
Animation from three (out of 5) photos taken in the course of the observations. The purpose of sunshine (marked with two traces) shifting from left to proper close to the middle of the picture is 1998 KY26. The sphere of view is 30 x 15 arc seconds. Picture credit score: NAOJ
The observations with the Subaru telescope have been carried out on the request of the Institute for Area and Astronautics (ISAS), JAXA. And consequently, 1998 KYtwenty sixth was photographed within the route of the constellation Gemini as a light-weight level of dimension 25.4 with a measurement uncertainty of 0.7 magazine. The place knowledge collected throughout these observations are used to enhance the accuracy of the orbital components of the asteroid. Comparable observations have been made with the Very massive telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
“We efficiently photographed the subsequent target asteroid for Hayabusa2. We hope that this knowledge will facilitate Hayabusa2’s new mission, ”says Dr. Michitoshi Yoshida, Director of Subaru Telescope.
“After Hayabusa2 introduced its re-entry capsule again to Earth, it set out for a brand new target, a small asteroid referred to as 1998 KYtwenty sixth. This would be the first mission for this small asteroid, so it’s of nice significance for each planetary analysis and planetary protection (defending the earth from collisions with star objects). These Subaru telescope observations is not going to solely be crucial knowledge for the expanded Hayabusa2 mission, however may also strengthen future missions. We’re grateful to everybody at Subaru Telescope. “Says Dr. Makoto Yoshikawa, the Hayabusa2 Mission Supervisor at ISAS, JAXA.
These outcomes have been revealed on December 15, 2020 within the IAU Minor Planet Heart’s digital round Minor Planet (MPEC 2020-X181: 1998 KY26).
