Summary: A km-wide asteroid named "1998 WT24" is heading for an encounter with Earth this weekend. There's no danger of a collision; at closest approach on Dec. 16th the space rock will be five times farther from our planet than the Moon. Nevertheless, the bright 9th-magnitude asteroid will be within easy range of backyard amateur telescopes. Find out when and where to look using this JPL ephemeris.

Unless otherwise noted, all images below are copyrighted by the photographers.
Some of the videos in this collection require the DivX-codec.

	Photographer, Location	Video	Comments
	Anton Spenko, Rezman Observatory, Slovenia Dec. 14-15, 2001	still images: #1, #2	A. Spenko captured these images of 1998 WT24 streaking across the starry sky on Dec. 14th and 15th. The Dec. 15th photo shows the asteroid passing by a bright star and the open star cluster M37.
	John Rogers, Camarillo Observatory, near Los Angeles, CA, USA Dec. 15, 2001	mpeg format: #1 (1.9 MB), #2 (4.9 MB)	Compare this movie to the ones (below) captured by John Rogers on earlier dates. They show how the asteroid's angular rate of motion increased from Dec. 11th to 15th as it approached our planet.
	S. Gajdos and J. Toth, Astronomical Observatory Modra, Comenius University, Slovakia Dec. 14, 2001	gif format: #1 (225 kB) still frame: #2	S. Gadjos and J. Toth captured this sequence of images using a 60cm reflector f/5.5 + ST8 CCD from 19:44 to 20:00 UT on Dec. 14th. [more]
	Tim Puckett, Ellijay, GA, USA Dec. 13, 2001	mpeg format: #1 (1.4 MB)	T. Puckett: "This animation of 1998 WT24 was obtained with a 60 cm reflector working at f/5.7. The movie was made from 75 one-minute exposures taken with an Apogee AP7 CCD camera." Copyright 2001©Tim Puckett.
	John Rogers, Camarillo Observatory, near Los Angeles, CA, USA Dec. 13, 2001	mpeg format: #1 (2.0 MB), #2 (5.3 MB) ASF format: #3 (0.6 MB)	Asteroid observer John Rogers captured this movie of fast-moving 1998 WT24 on Dec. 13th when it was only 0.019 AU from Earth.
	Brad Timerson, Newark High School in Newark, NY, USA Dec. 13, 2001	gif format: #1 (285 kB)	B. Timerson and his students at Newark High School in New York captured this movie using a remote-controlled 14" Celestron telescope located on Mt. Wilson, CA. "The glare at the bottom is from nearby Delta Geminorum. The asteroid moved about 14 arc minutes during the 25 minutes between the first and last exposure. The field of view is 17x17 arc minutes."
	The Astronomy Class at AGS High School, Amtsgymnasiet Sønderborg, Denmark Dec. 11, 2001	These *.avi movies require the DivX-codec: #1 (120 kb), #2 (350 kb), more	Danish students including Thomas Balstrup, Kim Lorenzen, Rasmus Lind, Marie Grønbæk, Lars T. Mikkelsen, Mads Clausen captured these videos of 1998 WT24 racing among the stars on Dec. 11th. Their teacher is Mogens Winther of AGS High School.
	John Rogers, Camarillo Observatory, near Los Angeles, CA, USA Dec. 11, 2001	mpeg format: #1 (1.8 MB), #2 (4.3 MB) ASF format: #3 (0.5 MB)	This excellent movie shows 3.9 hours of motion by 1998 WT24 when the asteroid was 0.028 AU from Earth.