2003 YG118 (Potentially hazardous Apollo)
21 images were taken on the night of January 11th 2004 and
stacked to keep the NEO stationary (left image) and also stacked to make
the NEO trail to show the galaxy within the field (right image)
2003 YG118 was discovered on 28th December 2003 by LINEAR
and announced the next day on
MPEC 2003-Y91 including pre-discovery images from both LINEAR and
LONEOS and both from the 17th of that month.
Both the NEO risk monitors
NEODyS and
JPL
listed 2003 YG118 during the next few days as having possible
impact solutions in the period 2033 - 2079, but then both removed it as
further astrometric observations were received. Following further
positions a week later, JPL put the object back on the risk register
with a single impact solution in 2087.
As 2003 YG118 is well placed in 2004 both before and after
its mid May perihelion it is expected that the impact solutions will be
able to be ruled out during this apparition (it will be well placed in
the northern hemisphere from December 2003 to March 2004, then well
placed for the southern hemisphere and as bright as 17th mag as it pulls
away from the Sun in late June 2004, fading from view by the year's end)
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