Asteroid (152637) 1997 NC1 is a near-Earth asteroid that just made a close pass on 27 June. Its closest approach was just under seven times the distance to the moon. Recent data show that it is a peanut-shaped object about 1-km long. Because of high winds and a bright moon, trying to capture an image on the 27th (Saturday) did not seem very appealing. However, last night (28 June) was much calmer and the moon remained hidden behind the flank of Snowshoe Mountain until just after 10 pm.
The lens used was a Rokinon 135mm f/2 mounted on an Olympus E-M5iii camera. The bright moonlight meant that exposures were limited to 5 sec. Two images were obtained, separated by 108 seconds. The movement of the asteroid is easily visible. It was moving about 0.6°/hr.
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| Asteroid (152637) 1997 NC1 (circled). 1-deg wide field. |
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| Animation of two exposures 108-sec apart. |
The star at the center of the above images is HD 151721 in Scorpius.
Shortly after these images were obtained, the nearly-full Strawberry Moon rose over the southern ridgeline of Snowshoe Mountain.
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| Strawberry Moon |
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| Antares and the globular cluster M4 in the bright moonlight. 5-sec exposure. |
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