Mystery Object J002E3 Gallery
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Summary: On Sept. 3rd amateur astronomer Bill Yeung discovered a curious object orbiting Earth. Is it an asteroid, a spacecraft, a piece of space junk? No one is sure. Whatever it is, amateur astronomers using 8"-to-10" telescopes and CCD cameras can see it for themselves, glowing like a 16th magnitude star in the constellation Taurus. [ephemeris]

 

Unless otherwise stated, all images are copyrighted by the photographers. Photographer, Location Images Comments

 

Andrea Aletti, Varese, Italy
Sept. 17 This 10-minute exposure was captured at the Schiaparelli Astronomical Observatory.

 

MOVIE

Bradley Timerson, Newark High School, Newark, NY, USA
Sept. 12 MOVIES: , ; avi file B. Timerson: "These images were taken by the Telescope in Education 14" reflector on Sept. 12, 2002. The images span about 12 minutes from 7:10:46 thru 7:22:50 a.m. EDT. Exposure time for each image was 30 seconds"

 

Dr. P. Clay Sherrod, Arkansas Sky Observatory, Arkansas, USA
Sept. 11 C. Sherrod: "This sequence shows J002E3 passing by the 13th magnitude star GSC 643-12. I captured these frames, separated by ten-minute intervals, using our 0.31m SCT and STV ccd camera at f/3.75, 60-sec. exposures each. The object most certainly varied in light, from about mag. 15.4 (08:42 UT) dimming to about 16.0 at some points. Our conditions here at the Conway observatory were not ideal, with very heavy haze and moisture. "