WT1190F

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WT1190F
Synodic rotation period
0.75 seconds[3]
Albedo>0.1
~16–23
31.3

WT1190F (9U01FF6, UDA34A3, or UW8551D) was a small temporary satellite of Earth that impacted Earth on 13 November 2015 at 06:18:21.7 (± 0.1 seconds) UTC.[4]: 7–8  It is thought to have been space debris from the trans-lunar injection stage of the 1998 Lunar Prospector mission.[5][6] It was first discovered on 18 February 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey.[2][7] It was then lost, and reacquired on 29 November 2013. It was again discovered on 3 October 2015 by astronomer Rose Garcia with the Catalina Sky Survey 60-inch telescope, and the object was soon identified to be the same as the two objects previously sighted by the team, who have been sharing their data through the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC).[8] An early orbit calculation showed that it was orbiting Earth in an extremely elliptical orbit, taking it from within the geosynchronous satellite ring to nearly twice the distance of the Moon.[1] It was also probably the same object as 9U01FF6, another object on a similar orbit discovered on 26 October 2009.

WT1190F had been orbiting Earth as a temporary satellite (named UWAIS) since mid-2009, if not longer. While it has not been positively identified with any known artificial satellites, its estimated density of 0.1 g/cm3 was much lower than would be expected of a natural object as even water has a density of 1 g/cm3. Hence, European Space Agency astronomers have concluded that the object was likely a fuel tank of some sort.[2][7]

After more observations, astronomers determined that the object would impact Earth on 13 November 2015 at 06:18 UTC (11:48 local time),[9] south of Sri Lanka.[2][7] Due to its small size, it was expected that most or all of the object would burn up in the atmosphere before impacting, but would be visible as a bright daytime fireball if the sky was not badly overcast.[2][7]

A ground-based observational campaign was organized as a possible test for future collision events involving also natural bodies.[10]

Observations

Bright object in the center is WT1190F as observed by the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope.

WT1190F was first discovered by the

Near-Earth Object surveying program.[11] The object was identified with an apparent magnitude 19.5 on 18 February 2013, and given the temporary designation UDA34A3, but was lost soon after, with an observation arc of only 5 hours.[12] However, it was again seen by the same survey on 29 November 2013 and given the designation UW8551D and lost again, only being observed for 1 hour 35 minutes.[12]

Most recently, it was recovered on 3 October 2015 and given the designation WT1190F. Its orbit was soon calculated and found to be orbiting Earth, but not with the orbit of any known artificial satellite. The object's orbit was soon connected, allowing more observations to be made, and several precovery observations have been found of the object, dating back to June 2009.[13]

The type of orbit that WT1190F had was not stable long-term. An object in this type of orbit was likely to impact into Earth or the Moon, or acquire enough

perigee (closest approach to Earth) of 248,000 km (154,000 mi).[13] It passed about 22,000 km (14,000 mi) from the Moon on 24 May 2012.[15] By 2013 the eccentricity had increased to 0.70 and the perigee decreased to 105,000 km (65,000 mi).[12]

Orbital evolution
Epoch Eccentricity Inclination
Perigee

(km)
Apogee

(km)
2011[13] 0.33 59 248383 495045
2013[12] 0.70 78 105639 598686
2015[1] 0.94 3 21221 655374

During WT1190F's orbit, it changed significantly in brightness, from an apparent magnitude 16 at perigee, to magnitude 23 at apogee. It spent most of its time dimmer than magnitude 20.[1] This, combined with solar pressure acceleration, the Yarkovsky effect, and frequent orbital perturbations by the Moon, made it difficult to precisely predict its orbit and location. About one hour before atmospheric entry, the object had a R magnitude of 13.6,[16][a] roughly the brightness of Pluto.

Impact

WT1190F made

Gulfstream 450 jet to study the re-entry from above the clouds and haze.[20] The airborne observation team successfully captured the re-entry on video.[9][21]

Impact approach[22]
Date vmag Distance
(km) 		Velocity
wrt Earth
(km/s)[23]
05 20.8 602399 0.2
08 20.5 524608 0.5
10 20.0 420800 0.8
11 19.6 345999 1.0
12 19.0 246196 1.4
13 17.1 89914 2.8
Impact ~ –6[24] 0 11.3

Airborne observations

Gulfstream 450 business jet rented for the mission

The International Astronomical Center (IAC) and the

Gulfstream 450 jet to bring researchers such as Peter Jenniskens to the area of WT1190F's impact, at a high altitude, to view the event over clouds or haze.[20] The Next TC3 Consortium Asteroid Detection and Early Warning team narrowed the atmospheric entry time to ± 1.3 seconds.[9]

Observers on the ground could not see the fireball because of rain, but the plane was able to find an opening in the clouds. The fireball was a bright naked eye object. Spectroscopic data was acquired to determine what the object was made of,[9] and the results published.[4]: 9 

See also

Impacts by known objects

Previous temporary satellites

Notes

  1. ^ Even near apparent magnitude ~13.6 it was about 1000 times too faint to be seen by the naked eye. Math:

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gray, Bill. "Pseudo-MPC for UDA34A3 = UW8551D = WT1190F". Project Pluto. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "WT1190F comes back: ESA NEOCC watching rare reentry". Minor Planet Mailing List. Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  3. ^ Peter Birtwhistle
  4. ^
    AIAA
    Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (SciTech 2016). Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  5. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.19162
    . Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  6. ^ Watson, Traci (23 October 2015). "Incoming space junk a scientific opportunity". Nature News. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d Wood, Chris (23 October 2015). "ESA to study rare rocket body reentry to improve predictive models". Gizmag.com. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Reentry data will help improve prediction models". European Space Agency. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d "Rapid Response to the next Small Asteroid Impact". SETI Institute. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  10. S2CID 119107218
    .
  11. ^ "Catalina Sky Surveys". NASA. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 14 January 2004. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d ""Pseudo-MPEC" for UDA34A3 = UW8551D". Project Pluto. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  13. ^ a b c Gray, Bill (30 October 2015). "Pseudo-MPEC for UDA34A3 = UW8551D = WT1190F". Project Pluto. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  14. ^ a b WT1190F FAQs – Bill Gray
  15. ^ Gray, Bill (5 November 2015). "Pseudo-MPEC for UDA34A3 = UW8551D = WT1190F". Project Pluto. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  16. ^ "DASO Circular No. 537". Minor Planet Center. 13 November 2015.[dead link]
  17. ^ "ESA SPONSORS WT1190F OBSERVATIONS". esa blog. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  18. ^ Gray, Bill (11 November 2015). "Ephemerides for (Gal) Galle, Sri Lanka". Project Pluto. Retrieved 12 November 2015.[dead link]
  19. ^ Gray, Bill (13 November 2015). "Ephemerides for (Col) Colombo, Sri Lanka". Project Pluto. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  20. ^ a b c Al-Ashi, Sameh (4 November 2015). "UAE sponsors airborne campaign to observe November 13 entry of space debris WT1190F". IAC. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  21. ^ King, Bob (13 November 2015). "Spectacular Breakup of WT1190F Seen by Airborne Astronomers". Universe Today. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  22. ^ The Distant Artificial Satellites Observation Page[dead link]
  23. ^ Ephemeris
  24. ^ Can you see fireballs in daylight, and will a fireball leave a trail?

External links

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