March 15, 2000
Small CCD-equipped telescopes can capture trailed images of 2000 EW70 during this period. Any telescope that shows Pluto visually -- say, 0.25-meter (10-inch) aperture or larger -- should show this object gliding from Leo into Ursa Major during March 22-25. On those nights, its unusually rapid motion (about 1 degree per hour!) should be perceptible in a high-power eyepiece.
Our information is largely adapted from Minor Planet Electronic Circular 2000-E57, published by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This asteroid belongs to the Aten family and circles the Sun in less than 11 months. It orbit, inclined 5.5 degrees to the ecliptic, takes it just inside Venus's orbit at perihelion and well beyond Earth's orbit at aphelion.
The following ephemeris, calculated at Sky & Telescope from the orbital elements by Gareth V. Williams, gives the object's right ascension and declination at 6-hour intervals for the next few days, then 3-hour intervals during the March 22-25 flyby period. Also listed is its distance from the Earth (Delta) and the Sun (r) in a.u., elongation from the Sun in degrees, expected visual magnitude, and the constellation through which it is passing.
Keep in mind that when this minor planet is nearest to the Earth, it can appear displaced up to about 10 arcminutes from the tabulated geocentric positions because of parallax. (Also, strictly speaking, the tabulated positions are for specific whole hours of Dynamical Time; the corresponding Universal Time is about 1 minute earlier.)
Roger W. Sinnott
Associate Editor, Sky & Telescope
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Minor Planet 2000 EW70
Date UT R.A. (2000) Dec. Delta r Elong. Mag. Const.
2000 Mar 16 0h 12 25.30 - 7 12.5 0.051 1.044 166.4 15.8 Vir
2000 Mar 16 6h 12 24.62 - 6 48.1 0.049 1.043 167.1 15.7 Vir
2000 Mar 16 12h 12 23.90 - 6 22.3 0.048 1.042 167.7 15.6 Vir
2000 Mar 16 18h 12 23.14 - 5 55.0 0.047 1.041 168.4 15.5 Vir
2000 Mar 17 0h 12 22.33 - 5 25.9 0.045 1.039 169.1 15.4 Vir
2000 Mar 17 6h 12 21.47 - 4 54.9 0.044 1.038 169.8 15.3 Vir
2000 Mar 17 12h 12 20.55 - 4 21.8 0.042 1.037 170.6 15.2 Vir
2000 Mar 17 18h 12 19.57 - 3 46.5 0.041 1.036 171.3 15.1 Vir
2000 Mar 18 0h 12 18.52 - 3 08.7 0.040 1.035 172.1 15.0 Vir
2000 Mar 18 6h 12 17.40 - 2 28.2 0.038 1.033 173.0 14.9 Vir
2000 Mar 18 12h 12 16.20 - 1 44.6 0.037 1.032 173.8 14.8 Vir
2000 Mar 18 18h 12 14.90 - 0 57.7 0.036 1.031 174.6 14.7 Vir
2000 Mar 19 0h 12 13.50 - 0 07.1 0.034 1.030 175.4 14.5 Vir
2000 Mar 19 6h 12 11.98 + 0 47.6 0.033 1.028 176.0 14.4 Vir
2000 Mar 19 12h 12 10.33 + 1 47.0 0.032 1.027 176.4 14.3 Vir
2000 Mar 19 18h 12 08.54 + 2 51.5 0.030 1.026 176.3 14.2 Vir
2000 Mar 20 0h 12 06.58 + 4 01.9 0.029 1.025 175.6 14.1 Vir
2000 Mar 20 6h 12 04.44 + 5 18.7 0.028 1.023 174.6 14.1 Vir
2000 Mar 20 12h 12 02.07 + 6 42.9 0.026 1.022 173.2 14.1 Vir
2000 Mar 20 18h 11 59.46 + 8 15.5 0.025 1.021 171.6 14.0 Vir
2000 Mar 21 0h 11 56.55 + 9 57.4 0.024 1.020 169.7 14.0 Vir
2000 Mar 21 6h 11 53.29 +11 50.0 0.023 1.018 167.5 14.0 Leo
2000 Mar 21 12h 11 49.63 +13 54.6 0.022 1.017 165.2 13.9 Leo
2000 Mar 21 18h 11 45.49 +16 12.8 0.020 1.016 162.5 13.9 Leo
2000 Mar 22 0h 11 40.76 +18 46.2 0.019 1.015 159.6 13.9 Leo
2000 Mar 22 3h 11 38.14 +20 09.1 0.019 1.014 158.0 13.9 Leo
2000 Mar 22 6h 11 35.32 +21 36.5 0.018 1.013 156.3 13.9 Leo
2000 Mar 22 9h 11 32.28 +23 08.5 0.018 1.013 154.6 13.8 Leo
2000 Mar 22 12h 11 29.00 +24 45.3 0.017 1.012 152.7 13.8 Leo
2000 Mar 22 15h 11 25.45 +26 27.2 0.017 1.011 150.7 13.8 Leo
2000 Mar 22 18h 11 21.59 +28 14.1 0.017 1.011 148.7 13.8 Leo
2000 Mar 22 21h 11 17.39 +30 06.2 0.016 1.010 146.5 13.8 UMa
2000 Mar 23 0h 11 12.79 +32 03.4 0.016 1.010 144.2 13.9 UMa
2000 Mar 23 3h 11 07.76 +34 05.8 0.015 1.009 141.9 13.9 UMa
2000 Mar 23 6h 11 02.22 +36 13.0 0.015 1.008 139.4 13.9 UMa
2000 Mar 23 9h 10 56.10 +38 24.9 0.015 1.008 136.8 13.9 UMa
2000 Mar 23 12h 10 49.32 +40 40.8 0.014 1.007 134.1 13.9 UMa
2000 Mar 23 15h 10 41.78 +43 00.3 0.014 1.006 131.3 14.0 UMa
2000 Mar 23 18h 10 33.37 +45 22.3 0.014 1.006 128.4 14.0 UMa
2000 Mar 23 21h 10 23.94 +47 46.0 0.014 1.005 125.4 14.1 UMa
2000 Mar 24 0h 10 13.35 +50 09.8 0.014 1.004 122.3 14.1 UMa
2000 Mar 24 3h 10 01.41 +52 32.4 0.013 1.004 119.2 14.2 UMa
2000 Mar 24 6h 9 47.94 +54 51.8 0.013 1.003 116.1 14.3 UMa
2000 Mar 24 9h 9 32.72 +57 06.0 0.013 1.002 112.9 14.4 UMa
2000 Mar 24 12h 9 15.57 +59 12.8 0.013 1.002 109.7 14.5 UMa
2000 Mar 24 15h 8 56.31 +61 09.6 0.013 1.001 106.6 14.6 UMa
2000 Mar 24 18h 8 34.86 +62 54.0 0.013 1.000 103.4 14.7 UMa
2000 Mar 24 21h 8 11.26 +64 23.4 0.014 1.000 100.3 14.8 UMa
2000 Mar 25 0h 7 45.75 +65 35.9 0.014 0.999 97.3 15.0 Cam
2000 Mar 25 6h 6 51.00 +67 04.2 0.014 0.998 91.4 15.2 Cam
2000 Mar 25 12h 5 56.24 +67 17.3 0.015 0.997 85.9 15.5 Cam
2000 Mar 25 18h 5 07.07 +66 27.9 0.015 0.995 80.9 15.9 Cam
2000 Mar 26 0h 4 26.31 +64 56.4 0.016 0.994 76.2 16.2 Cam
2000 Mar 26 6h 3 53.88 +63 01.7 0.017 0.993 72.0 16.5 Cam
2000 Mar 26 12h 3 28.43 +60 57.4 0.018 0.991 68.2 16.9 Cam
2000 Mar 26 18h 3 08.37 +58 52.2 0.019 0.990 64.8 17.2 Cas
2000 Mar 27 0h 2 52.38 +56 51.0 0.020 0.989 61.7 17.5 Per
2000 Mar 27 6h 2 39.46 +54 56.1 0.021 0.987 58.8 17.8 Per
2000 Mar 27 12h 2 28.86 +53 08.7 0.022 0.986 56.3 18.1 Per
2000 Mar 27 18h 2 20.04 +51 29.0 0.023 0.985 54.0 18.4 Per
2000 Mar 28 0h 2 12.61 +49 56.8 0.025 0.983 51.9 18.7 And
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