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Close flyby of asteroid 1998 FW on September 29, 2009
This not so little sucker (approx. 400-600 meters) will encounter the earth at a distance of 8.63 LD (lunar distances) on September 29, 18:43 UT. It will be a radar target a Goldstone and Arecibo. Due to its highly eccentric orbit it is possibly an extinct comet belonging to the Jupiter-family.
We contributed astrometry on Aug. 23 and Sept. 9 to the MPC (MPEC 2009-R32). In the 30 minutes exposed image the asteroid shows up as a bright streak. During this time the object was clearly visible on a single 30 second exposure at mag. 17. It will brighten up to magnitude 14 and be an easy target for amateur telescopes. From September 19 - 30 1998FW4 is moving through the constellations Aquarius, Aquila and Ophiuchus accelerating rapidly. After September 30 it will be unobservable.