I Spy a Little Asteroid With My Infrared Eye

Spitzer_sig14-016_1024

spitzer_sig14-016 June 19th, 2014

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Northern Arizona University/SAO

This image of asteroid 2011 MD was taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in Feb. 2014, over a period of 20 hours. The long observation, taken in infrared light, was needed to pick up the faint signature of the small asteroid (center of frame). The Spitzer observations helped narrow down the size of the space rock to roughly 20 feet (6 meters), making it one of a few candidates for NASA's proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission for which sizes are approximately known.

This image was taken by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera at a wavelength of 4.5 microns.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5883-sig14-016-I-Spy-a-Little-Asteroid-With-My-Infrared-Eye

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
2011 MD
Subject - Solar System
Interplanetary Body > Asteroid
Spitzer_sig14-016_128
 

Position Details

Position
RA = 0h 0m 0.0s
DEC = 0° 0’ 0.0”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
0.0 x 0.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Pisces

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Spectrum_base
Pseudocolor
Spitzer_sig14-016_1280
×
ID
sig14-016
Subject Category
A.2.3  
Subject Name
2011 MD
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Northern Arizona University/SAO
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor
Band
Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR
Central Wavelength
4500
Start Time
2014-02-11T20:31
Integration Time
1
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
-, -
Reference Dimension
-, -
Reference Pixel
-, -
Scale
-, -
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
sig14-016.tif
Metadata Date
2014-06-19
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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