NEA 2004 BL86 Fly By
2015-01-26, Near Asteroid fly by.
This is a relatively large asteroid passing at 3.1 LD (lunar distance) from Earth.
Discovered by LINEAR survey in 30 january 2004, got number (357439) and designation 2004 BL86.
Estimated size was ~680m and period 1.84yr
I joined an observation group to study the asteroid during this close approach.
Made some observations using my remote observatory. SCT12", SBIG ST-10E V filter. Exposure was 4sec because of the asteroid motion.
The object crossed the image FOV (30"x20") very quickly at 2.5arcsec/sec
Animation of 2004 BL86 composed of 7 images (7x4s)
Radar images from JPL's Goldstone Tracking Station shows a binary asteroid, also refines its size to a smaller 325m.
Goldstone image credit
Image stack of 7x4s showing path of 2004 BL86