MYTRE CONTINUES:
~Space Weather Update~ Quiet Sun~
ASTEROID SIGHTING: In an age of CCD cameras and high-speed digital recorders, University of Colorado Prof. Richard Keen has done something unusual. He observed an asteroid flyby with nothing but optics and the human eye. On May 29th, newly-discovered asteroid 2012 KT42 passed closer to Earth than a geosynchronous satellite. "Bent over the eyepiece of my 12-inch telescope, I tracked the little space rock for 42 minutes," says Keen. "Along the way it brightened from magnitude 11.5 to 10.5, about a whole magnitude brighter than predicted. Aside from some meteorites I've held in my hands and other meteors flashing though the upper atmosphere, this is the closest astronomical object I've ever seen. According to the NASA ephemeris, 2012 KT42 was just 19158 km from my house when I last saw it--about the same as a plane flight to Australia."
CANVAS FOR A TRANSIT: In only 6 days, Venus will pass in front of the sun, marking the solar disk like the tip of a black-dipped paint brush drawn slowly across the stellar surface. If the transit is indeed like a painting, here is the canvas:
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