"Once In a Lifetime" Asteroid Sighting Monday Night

An anonymous reader writes Tonight, Asteroid 2004 BL86 will make a pass by the Earth at just 745,000 miles away. This should offer stargazers a great opportunity to see the half-kilometer space rock. CNN has some tips on the best method and time to look. From the article: "The best chance for viewing will be from 8 p.m. ET Monday to 1 a.m. ET Tuesday. Asteroid 2004 BL86 is large, and it will brighten, but nonetheless will not be observable with the naked eye. Some astronomy websites say a pair of binoculars could do the trick, but Sky & Telescope recommends at least a 3- or 4-inch diameter telescope. 'One good technique for fast-movers like 2004 BL86 is to identify and lock onto a star along its path,' Sky & Telescope senior editor Kelly Beatty says. 'Then just watch at the time that the asteroid is predicted to pass by that particular star.'"

Comments

If I have a really long telescope...

[lseltzer]

I might be able to see it through the blizzard here

Re:If I have a really long telescope...

[TWX]

I don't think you're legitimate. You didn't say, "...blizzid heah." Too many uses of the letter R.

Best Chance For Viewing

[Jason Levine]

"The best chance for viewing will be from 8 p.m. ET Monday to 1 a.m. ET Tuesday."

Or, when the big winter storm slams my area making it impossible to see anything in the sky except falling snow.

Thanks, Mother Nature!

Great timing

[Anonymous Coward]

Will it be visible through a blizzard?

Re:That's a lot of lifetimes

[K. S. Kyosuke]

It's once-in-a-lifetime thing for those who'll be dead by August 7, 2027.