Asteroid 2000 EM26 Fly By

Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) and Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) 2000 EM26 was to have made its closest approach to Earth on February 17, 2014 around 9:15 p.m. EST. Astronomers at the Slooh Observatory on Mount Teide in the Canary Islands provided a live broadcast during which time they showed video of other NEA/PHAs and discussed the history of the 2000 EM26 asteroid.

2000 EM26 was first discovered March 5, 2000. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the window for seeing the asteroid was between 8:15 a.m. February 17 through 10:15 a.m. February 18 EST.

During the live broadcast, the Dubai Astronomy Group provided a series of images of the night sky which may have shown 2000 EM26. The broadcasters encouraged viewers to look for a moving object 6 times fainter than Pluto. One source stated that viewers would need a fairly hefty telescope to see 2000 EM26.

Posted by Note Taker