Red Sumner of the Jack C. Davis Observatory at Western Nevada College produced this still photo of the 2004 BL86 asteroid (first star from left) last Sunday night, as the asteroid came within 745,000 miles of Earth.
Western Nevada College’s Jack C. Davis Observatory captured a rare event late last Sunday night, when an asteroid with a small moon entered Earth’s orbit.
The asteroid identified as 2004 BL86 was spotted low on the horizon on the observatory’s 12-inch telescope at 10:30 p.m.
“It’s technically challenging with something that’s moving that fast,” said Red Sumner, an observatory volunteer who saw the asteroid through his lens and made a video of the event. “You have to be at the right place at the right time.”
Sumner said better viewing of the asteroid was expected the following day, but the Carson City area unfortunately was overcast at that time.
“The thing that makes it interesting is when it’s that close, you can see it moving. Most things in the sky can’t take motion,” Sumner said.
Sumner also caught a glimpse of the asteroid late Monday evening while it passed several stars.
“It was challenging to see it. It was come and go with the weather,” said Sumner, who taught observational astronomy at WNC in the 1990s.
The asteroid was first discovered on Jan. 30, 2004, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research survey in White Sands, N.M. At its closest approach on Monday, it was about 745,000 miles from the Earth, which was roughly three times the distance to the moon. BL86 is about 1,100 feet wide.
NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab have confirmed with radar measurements it has a small moon that’s about 230 feet wide.
Sumner said about 10 percent of asteroids have their own moon.
The asteroid orbits the Earth about every 1.84 years and isn’t expected to get any closer to this planet for at least 200 years, according to Sumner.
The Jack C. Davis Observatory is located at 2699 Van Patten Drive, just west of the WNC Campus at 2201 West College Parkway in Carson City. It’s open every Saturday evening for free telescope viewing, and frequent free lectures and programs.
