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Early on 15 October, 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 Centre
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the centre, 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 that day.
Judging by its brightness, Hermes is a minor planet about 1 to 2
kilometres 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 Centre�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 28 October 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 4 November 2003. Nevertheless, the
possibility of future close encounters definitely puts this object in
the PHA (potentially hazardous asteroid) class.
The image opposite is from the LONEOS website
More info: JPL NEO Program
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