Asteroid 2023 DZ2, the asteroid of the decade for most people, since it was the one that approached Earth at a distance of only 170,000 Km and with a size ranging from 40-100m as shown in the graph. It was recorded on March 2, 2023, with its brightness close to 15mag and its velocity approaching 7.8Km/s. Fast in the field as well at 40"/min. On March 25, 2023, it made its closest pass at 21:50 relative to Earth, but was quite low at about 17 degrees , and its brightness was close to 10mag. An astrometric recording was made and the results were submitted to MPC for orbital refinement. Also after study it was calculated that its rotation period is about 6.3min as shown in the graph below. The measurements were submitted to ALCDEF database and Minor Planet Bulletin and published in Issue 50-3 (2023 Jul-Sep) and can be found at:
Finally, it is an object of study of the IAWN and a campaign has been organized to study it astrometrically, photometrically, spectroscopically and with the use of radar, where NOAK is a member of the photometry team.
Asteroid 2023 DZ2.
Asteroid 2023 DZ2 in the field.
The orbit of 2023 DZ2.
Calculation of the 2023 DZ2 rotation period
Reaching the end of a process (a beautiful journey I would say) that started in the summer of 2021, Minor Planet Bulletin https://mpbulletin.org/ , after the necessary checks, approved the paper on asteroid 665 Sabine and published it in the April-June issue (Issue 48-2). It is a publication that encompasses the complete study of the asteroid, starting from its photography to the finding of its period.It is an asteroid observed in the summer and belongs to the Main Asteroid Belt i.e. between Mars and Jupiter. Its distance at this period from Earth was 281 million km and its brightness was 12.7 mag. Its diameter is 51 km.
The calculation of its rotation period, after several attempts, was found to be 4.299±0.004h hours which is in perfect agreement with all databases (4.294h). All measurements were submitted to the ALCDEF database http://alcdef.org/ and NASA's PDS (Planetary Data System) with the specific form and procedure required. MinorPlanetCenter did not need it because its orbit is sufficiently defined.
Minor Planet Bulletin is a quarterly scientific journal published by the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers ALPO (Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers) in the United States. Its publications are derived from measurements made at universities around the world, as well as by a small number of amateur astronomers. The initial review of the study was done by Brian Warner, founder of the Asteroid Lightcurve Photometry Database ALCDEF, the database to which the measurements were also deposited, and by Pedro Valdes Sada, professor at the University of Monterrey, Mexico.
Final approval was given by Richard P. Binzel via email communication. He even congratulated me on a very good job. Very great honor and vindication of efforts.
For those who don't know him, he is a Professor of Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and one of the world's leading planetary astronomers, especially in the field of asteroids and the study of Pluto https://eapsweb.mit.edu/people/rpb. He is also the creator of the Turin Scale, the scale that shows us the risk of a collision between a body and the Earth in relation to the consequences of the collision. The paper has tracking number 48-204 and can be read here:
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021MPBu...48...99S/abstract .
The results have also been included in the NASA databases (SAO/NASA ADS).
The photometric analysis of Sabine 665 with the help of MPO Canopus.
The asteroid's orbit over a period of 5 hours.
Astrometric recording of Sabine with the Astrometrica program.
The photometric analysis of Sabine 665 with the help of Muniwin.
The photometric analysis of Sabine 665 with the help of MPO Canopus.
Astrometric recording of the asteroid ARA 849
The photometric study of ARA 849 using Muniwin.
The observatory participates in the Ancient Asteroids project of the University of Athens, which involves the characterization of asteroids that are members of primordial scattered families of the Main Belt of the Solar System. This is a very difficult task indeed, requiring the cooperation of many people from all over the world to make it happen! The first publication and more information is available on the page:
http://users.uoa.gr/~kgaze/ancient_asteroids.html .
The project is coordinated by Dr. Cosmas Gazea and PhD candidate Dimitris Athanasopoulos.
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