376E-412-Tiny Space Rock

376E-412-Tiny Space Rock

Author: Albert D. Grauer February 17, 2026 Duration: 2:01
Eighteen hours before my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Rose Matheny first spotted a small space rock with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona it had passed less than the Earth's diameter from the surface of our planet. Rose was able to discover this Smart Car sized space rock after it moved out of the Sun's glare. At this point it was about the Moon's distance from her and was traveling away at 3.4 mi/s. After Rose posted her discovery observations on the Minor Planet Center's Near Earth Object Confirmation page, for the next 24 hours it was tracked by telescopes in Spain, Illinois, and Arizona. Scientists at the Minor Planet Center used these data to calculate it's orbit around the Sun, estimate it's size and give it the name 2017 UJ2. This small asteroid had come near the Earth in 1978 but was invisible to the technology which astronomers had available at the time. 2017 UJ2 will not come close enough for us to detect in the foreseeable future, however, there are likely to be tens of millions of others like it which can come close to Earth. A small asteroid the size of Rose's discovery is likely to enter our atmosphere at least once a year and explodes at about 4 times higher than airliners fly. If such an event happened at night and you were lucky enough to see it you would be treated to a fantastic light show. If you are as lucky as a power ball winner you might even be able to find a piece of it on the ground.

Each episode of Travelers In The Night feels like a quiet, personal conversation under a dark sky. Hosted by astronomer Dr. Albert D. Grauer, this podcast brings the distant cosmos into sharp, intimate focus. Dr. Grauer isn't just an observer; he's an active participant in the hunt, working with the Catalina Sky Survey team that has consistently discovered near-Earth asteroids for years. In these brief and engaging segments, you'll hear firsthand accounts of what it's like to track these ancient celestial travelers-the asteroids and comets that silently pass by our world. The discussions move beyond simple facts to explore the real-world implications of these discoveries, from planetary defense to the sheer wonder of our dynamic solar system. Accompanied by the contemplative music of John Lyell's "Eternity," each installment offers a moment of calm reflection on humanity's place in the universe. It’s a perfect blend of grounded science and cosmic curiosity, making complex astronomical concepts accessible and deeply fascinating. For anyone who has ever looked up and wondered what's out there moving in the dark, this podcast provides a direct line to the front lines of discovery.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 1000

Travelers In The Night
Podcast Episodes
187E-199-Space Boomerang [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
A space boomerang meets its fate in a collision with the Earth about 60 miles off of the coast of Sri Lanka producing a bright, but harmless light show in the noon sky.
698-Aliens?(484) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Most Astronomers find it hard to believe that given perhaps a trillion planets in the Milky Way alone that our Earth is the only one which hosts living organisms. It is both exciting and terrifying to realize we have no…
186E-198-Asteroid Water Wagons [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Our Moon is the nearest and most likely place for humans to colonize in the near future. It has a hostile environment where air and liquid water as we know them on Earth are not to be found. In the past astronomers hypot…
697-Double Trouble(697) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Asteroid hunters have discovered a strange asteroid pair. How they came to be together and what humans would do if such a large double trouble object is heading for us remains a mystery.
185E-197-Rik's 2 Homers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
During his last official observing run before retiring, my Catalina Sky Survey teammate, Rik Hill knocked two out of the park. On successive nights he discovered two new potentially hazardous asteroids 2015 TD323 and 201…
696-Botswana Fragment(482) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
An object is tracked in outer space, seen to explode in our atmosphere, and had a fragment of it discovered on the ground. Its analysis will help humans to prepare for and defend against a much larger object with our num…
184E-196-Dark,Bright,and Beautiful [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
The Great Galaxy in Andromeda or M31 as it is also known is one of the furtherest objects that can be seen with the unaided human eye. It is about two and a half million light years away. More than a thousand years ago t…
695-A Large Visitor(480) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Statistically, asteroid hunters are thought to have discovered 90% of our potentially dangerous celestial neighbors greater than 1 KM in diameter. Thus my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Greg Leonard was surprised to discov…
183E-195-Flat Earth Society Reincarnation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
In spite of the shape of the Earth's shadow on the Moon, sailing ships disappearing below the horizon, satellite photographs, orbiting objects, and a mountain of other information about the size and shape of the Earth th…
694-Comet Catalina(479) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Comet C/2018 M1 (Catalina) is eternal in the sense that it will likely wander the vast space between the stars in our Milky Way Galaxy until the end of time.