Travelers in the Night Eps. 785 & 786: Secret Asteroid Mission & Comet 31

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org

From February & March 2024.

Today's 2 topics:

- Unlike other space missions which are conducted out in the open the asteroid mining company AstroForge's first mission to a potentially valuable nearby rocky M type asteroid is being planned in secret so that some other company doesn't have the chance to grab it before they do.

- My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Alex Gibbs discovered his 31st comet while asteroid hunting in Leo with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona. It orbits the Sun once every 6 years on a path between Mars and Jupiter. Comet P/2023/Y1 (Gibbs) is one on the 600 plus known members of the Jupiter family of comets.

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