(meteorobs) Fwd: Asteroid Toutatis Approaches

[Lewis J. Gramer]

>From a local astronomy-club list. Slightly off-topic: apologies to all.

I've not heard any other details about Toutatis' near pass, but I just
checked out SpaceWeather and it's true - he's in the neighborhood! :)

Clear skies,
Lew Gramer


-----Original Message-----
From: atmob On Behalf Of Bruce
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 10:57 PM
Subject: Asteroid Toutatis Approaches

Asteroid 4179 Toutatis is flying past Earth this week. The
weirdly tumbling space rock is close enough (4 lunar distances) and bright
enough (9th magnitude) to see through backyard telescopes.  For the next
few days it will scoot through the constellation Capricornus where amateur
astronomers worldwide can find it.  By Sept. 29th, when Toutatis is
closest to Earth, it will be visible mainly from the southern hemisphere.
Observers there can see it passing not far from the bright star Alpha
Centauri. Follow the links at http://spaceweather.com to sky maps and
detailed ephemerides.

Bruce