----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger W. Sinnott" <rsinnott@No-Spam>
To: <asteroid@No-Spam>
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 3:04 PM
Subject: AstroAlert: Hermes is found!
> ==================================================================
> This Is SKY & TELESCOPE's AstroAlert for Minor Planets
> ==================================================================
>
>
>
> HERMES IS FOUND
>
>
> After eluding astronomers for 66 years, the long-lost asteroid Hermes has
finally been retrieved.
>
> Early on October 15th, Brian A. Skiff (Lowell Observatory Near-Earth
Object Search, Arizona) sent measurements of four CCD images obtained with
the 23-inch Catalina Schmidt telescope to the Minor Planet Center in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the center, Timothy B. Spahr identified the
suspect with other measurements submitted in the past seven weeks -- but not
recognized as unusual -- by LONEOS and by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid
Research (LINEAR) project in New Mexico. In addition, quick action by James
Young (Table Mountain Observatory, California) secured a confirmation just
before dawn on the 15th.
>
> Judging by its brightness, Hermes is a minor planet about 1 to 2
kilometers across. So it could be somewhat larger than the 1937 estimates.
In a famous exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, New York,
Hermes was depicted as a sphere about the size of Central Park.
>
> Hermes is by no means the last of the "lost asteroids" -- many thousands
of others in the Minor Planet Center's database fall in this category
because they could not be followed long enough for an accurate orbit to be
determined. But Hermes is by far the most famous. It was discovered by Karl
Reinmuth at Heidelberg, Germany, on October 28, 1937, and tracked for only
five days. Although never officially numbered, it has been known by the name
Hermes ever since.
>
> In late October 2003, Hermes will be bright enough (magnitude 13) to be
seen in 8-inch and larger amateur telescopes as it races westward across
Cetus, Pisces, and Aquarius. By month's end it will be moving 7 degrees per
day and gaining. Unlike the situation in 1937, when Hermes skimmed to within
800,000 km of our planet (two Earth-Moon distances), it will pass about nine
times that far on November 4, 2003. Nevertheless, the possibility of future
close encounters definitely puts this object in the PHA (potentially
hazardous asteroid) class.
>
> The preliminary ephemeris below has been calculated from the orbital
elements by Brian G. Marsden on Minor Planet Electronic Circular 2003-T74,
issued October 15th. It gives Hermes's right ascension and declination
(equinox 2000.0) at 0 hours Universal Time on each date, its distance from
the Earth (Delta) and Sun (r) in astronomical units, its elongation angle
from the Sun, visual magnitude, and the constellation through which it is
passing. (View or print the table with a fixed-space font like Courier.)
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hermes (1937 UB)
>
> Date RA Dec Delta r Elong. Mag. Const.
> (0h UT) h m o ' (au) (au) o
> Oct 15 01 46.2 +02 48 0.210 1.205 171 14.6 Psc
> Oct 16 01 43.6 +02 39 0.200 1.195 172 14.5 Psc
> Oct 17 01 40.6 +02 29 0.189 1.185 172 14.3 Cet
> Oct 18 01 37.4 +02 19 0.179 1.174 173 14.2 Cet
> Oct 19 01 33.7 +02 07 0.169 1.164 172 14.1 Cet
> Oct 20 01 29.6 +01 54 0.159 1.153 172 13.9 Cet
> Oct 21 01 24.9 +01 40 0.149 1.143 170 13.8 Cet
> Oct 22 01 19.5 +01 23 0.139 1.132 169 13.7 Cet
> Oct 23 01 13.4 +01 05 0.130 1.122 167 13.6 Cet
> Oct 24 01 06.4 +00 45 0.120 1.111 164 13.5 Cet
> Oct 25 00 58.2 +00 21 0.111 1.101 162 13.4 Cet
> Oct 26 00 48.6 -00 06 0.102 1.090 158 13.3 Cet
> Oct 27 00 37.3 -00 38 0.094 1.079 155 13.2 Cet
> Oct 28 00 23.7 -01 15 0.085 1.069 151 13.1 Psc
> Oct 29 00 07.4 -02 00 0.077 1.058 146 13.0 Psc
> Oct 30 23 47.4 -02 53 0.070 1.047 140 12.9 Psc
> Oct 31 23 23.1 -03 55 0.063 1.037 133 12.9 Aqr
> Nov 01 22 53.3 -05 06 0.057 1.026 125 12.9 Aqr
> Nov 02 22 17.4 -06 25 0.052 1.015 115 13.0 Aqr
> Nov 03 21 35.7 -07 44 0.049 1.005 104 13.2 Aqr
> Nov 04 20 49.7 -08 53 0.048 0.994 91 13.5 Aqr
> Nov 05 20 02.8 -09 41 0.048 0.983 79 14.0 Aql
> Nov 06 19 18.5 -10 04 0.051 0.973 67 14.7 Aql
> Nov 07 18 39.4 -10 07 0.055 0.962 57 15.6 Sct
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sky & Telescope plans to issue another AstroAlert with a more detailed
ephemeris later.
>
>
> Roger W. Sinnott
> Senior Editor
> Sky & Telescope
>
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