Asteroid 2010 WC9 about 18 hours before its closest approach to Earth (~126,000 miles).
It's the faint streak in the middle of the image. It was only about the size of a football field.
ISO 6400 was necessary to even pick it up this well with our 6" TOA-150 refractor.
Exposure time 6 minutes. During this time, it moved roughly the distance
between New York City and Los Angeles.
Asteroid 2004 XP14 Flyby
On 07/03/06, this asteroid passed by Earth at a distance of only 269,000 miles,
or slightly greater than the distance between the Earth and the moon.
This 25-minute composite image shows the path it took toward the
upper right corner of the frame as it was streaking away from the Earth,
about 18 hours after closest approach.
Asteroid 2007 TU24 Flyby
On 01/28/08, this asteroid passed by Earth at a distance of about 334,000 miles.
This 10-minute image was taken a few hours before closest approach.
Its movement was from left to right.
All images Copyright © 2000-2024 Charles & Pat Briley
Astronomy - Terrestrial Photos - Weather