Asteroid 1998 QE2 animation, and an interloper

[lukebl]

Hi all,

I managed this quick capture of close-approach asteroid 1998 QE2 last night (2nd June 2013), with what I assume to be an artificial satellite scooting through the view. The asteroid itself seems fairly bright at aroung mag 11, and moving visibly with just 10 second exposures, but no sign of its moon. Does anyone know if the moon has been captured visually?

10 x 10 second exposures, SXVF-H9 cam, 250mm f/4.7 Newtonian. The asteroid is the slow-moving object!

[foundaplanet]

That's a cracker, especially with the added interloper.

There is something else going on at the edge of the screen on the right hand edge about a quarter of the way up or is an anomaly.

[lukebl]

Cheers! I noticed the thing on the right-hand edge too, but it's just a few dead pixels.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice animation. I doubt the asteroid's moon would be visible. It was much smaller in size than the asteroid itself in the radar images I have seen, and a high albedo in radar does not mean a high albedo in visible light.