Travelers in the Night Eps. 371 & 372: Kiwi Nights & Close Ones

0:00It's the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast, coming in 3, 2, 1.

0:21New Zealand's 4.5 million people are concentrated in three major population centers, which to various degrees suffer from the modern plague of light pollution. However, most of New Zealand's large rural areas and land reserves, covering an area as large as the UK, have unpolluted natural night skies. A completely unique place to experience New Zealand's natural night sky is the Aotea, Great Barrier Island International Dark Sky Sanctuary.

0:53It encompasses New Zealand's 110-square-mile, sixth-largest island, which is located about 62 miles from central Auckland. It is easily accessible by boat or a short airline flight. The island's 1,000 residents are employed by agriculture and tourism. They value the natural night sky and function without externally generated electricity or streetlights and fully support the preservation of their pristine night sky. In the daytime, Great Barrier Island offers wonderful beaches and hikes.

1:27When the sun sets, the night sky becomes alive with its own natural lights. Night sky measurements by Auckland astronomer Nala'ini Davies and her collaborators have proved that the Great Barrier Island's natural night skies are second to none on planet Earth. Using the unaided eye, a set of binoculars, or a small telescope, an observer on the Great Barrier Island is treated to spectacular views of the center of the Milky Way, the clouds of Magellan, the nearest galaxies to us, the nearest stars,

1:59as well as numerous star clusters, meteors, comets, and other wonders of the natural night sky. Perhaps this unique spot deserves a place on your bucket list. For Travelers in the Night, this is Dr. Al Grauer. Go to travelersinthenight.org, program 405, for more information.

2:22In less than 24 hours, while observing with the Catalina Sky Survey's 60-inch telescope on Mount Lemmon, Arizona, I discovered two 25-foot-diameter space rocks that can theoretically pass less than a quarter of the moon's distance from us. After I posted my discovery observations on the Minor Planet Center's Near-Earth Object Confirmation page, one of them received immediate attention as an incoming object and was tracked by observers at 14 different observatories around the world.

2:55Scientists at the Minor Planet Center used these data to calculate its 926-day orbital path around the sun, estimate its size, and give it the name 2017 TH5. 36 hours after I first spotted 2017 TH5 streaking through the night sky, it came to less than 60,000 miles from the surface of our planet traveling at 7.6 miles per second. Eight hours and 49 minutes later, it passed less than a half a lunar distance from the surface of our moon.

3:30If 2017 TH5 would have been on an impact trajectory with Earth, humans would have had time to prepare for a spectacular light show. Approximately once every five years, a tiny asteroid like 2017 TH5 enters our atmosphere, exploding at an altitude about three times higher than airliners fly, releasing the energy of about 5,000 tons of TNT. Asteroid hunters are well on our way towards being able to issue a warning to stay away from doors and windows

4:04should a small space rock be discovered to be on an impact trajectory with planet Earth. For Travelers in the Night, this is Dr. Al Grauer. Go to travelersinthenight.org program 406 for more information.

4:21You are listening to the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast.

4:32Cool. The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. Audio post-production is by me, Richard Drumm. Project management is by Aviva Yamani. And hosting is donated by LibSyn.com. This content is released under a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial 4.0 international license.

5:03Please share what you love, but don't sell what's free. This show is made possible thanks to the generous donations of people like you. Please consider supporting our show on patreon.com forward slash CosmoQuestX and get access to bonus content. Without your passion and contribution, we won't be able to share the stories and inspire the worlds. We invite you to join our community of storytellers and share your voice with listeners worldwide. As we wrap up today's episode, we're looking forward to unraveling more stories from the universe.

5:38With every new discovery from ground-based and space-based observatories and each milestone in space exploration, we come closer to understanding the cosmos and our place within it. Until next time, let the stars guide your curiosity.