Space Weather News for April 15, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

SPINNING ASTEROID FLYBY: A 50-meter asteroid is flying past the Earth-Moon system on April 15th. There's no danger of a collision, but the 50-meter space rock is remarkable. It is elongated and spinning, which causes the asteroid to flash like a strobe light in amateur telescopes. Video and observing tips are highlighted on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com

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SPINNING ASTEROID FLYBY: Newly-discovered asteroid 2011 GP59 is flying past Earth today, April 15th, not far beyond the orbit of the Moon (1.4 LD). There's no danger of a collision, but the 50-meter space rock is remarkable: It is elongated and spinning once every 7.5 minutes. This causes the asteroid to flash like a strobe light. A video taken by Joe Pollock of Appalachian State University on April 11th shows the effect nicely. Experienced amateur astronomers using mid-sized telescopes can watch 2011 GP59 strobe through the constellations Virgo and Hydra tonight with a peak brightness near 13th magnitude. [3D orbit] [ephemeris] [JPL press release]