Asteroid 2007 TU24 is flying past Earth this week at a
distance of only 334,000 miles (1.4 lunar distances). NASA radars
tracking the asteroid confirm that there is no danger of a collision, but
it will be close enough for amateur astronomers to photograph through
mid-sized backyard telescopes. At closest approach on Jan. 29th, the
asteroid will glide through the constellations Andromeda and Cassiopeia
glowing like a 10th magnitude star. Visit
http://spaceweather.com for
celestial coordinates and a low-resolution radar image of the approaching
rock.
HALO BONUS: A photographer in Finland has captured the long-sought
"Kern arc", a rare sun halo created by triangular ice crystals. Experts
are calling it the "halo photo of the decade" and it is featured on
today's edition of
http://spaceweather.com.