389E-426-Rose Rules Again

389E-426-Rose Rules Again

Author: Albert D. Grauer May 19, 2026 Duration: 2:01
389E-426-Rose Rules Again Recently my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Rose Matheny discovered 8 new Earth approaching object candidates on a single night with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona. One of them, 2017 YO is a mile and a half diameter, main belt asteroid, while the other 7 are interesting Earth approaching objects. Another one of Rose's single night discoveries is 2017 YM1. When Rose first spotted it this space rock was moving rapidly north, at 6.9 miles per second, away from the Earth in the constellation of Ursae Major. About 5 days earlier it had passed near both the Earth and Our Moon at which time it was too far south to be seen from Arizona. This space rock is about 92 feet in diameter, orbits the Sun once every 2.25 years, and can come to less than a tenth of the Moon's distance from us. 2017 YM1 is about 1.5 times larger than the Chelyabinsk (Shell ya binsk) meteor which in 2013 broke many thousands of windows and injured 1,200 people. According to Perdue University's impact calculator, a space rock like 2017 YM1 enters the Earth's atmosphere once every hundred years or so with an energy of 250 kilotons of TNT, explodes into a cloud of fragments at about 73,000 feet, rains pieces onto the ground, and produces a sonic boom that would get your attention as it breaks a lot of windows. Asteroid hunter's goal is to discover any such impactor days before it enters the Earth's atmosphere so that people can be warned to stay away from doors and windows. For Travelers in the Night this is Dr. Al Grauer.

© 2026 A. D. Grauer

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: 100

Travelers In The Night
Podcast Episodes
346E-369-Finding Treasure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
The energy required to lift water, food, and construction materials from the Earth's surface is very expensive. Asteroids come relatively close to Earth and could provide space colonists with metals, carbon, water, and t…
858-Vanishing Dark and Quiet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Sadly humans seem to be in the process of creating a cosmic land fill which will blot out much of the cosmos.
345E-368-Asteroid Alert [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
When Asteroid hunters discover a new object it is given a score ranging from 0 which means it is likely to be a distant main belt asteroid up to 100 which means that it is likely to come near to us. Each newly discovered…
857-Gila Cliff Dwellings [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Recently my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Dr. Hannes Gröller and I traveled to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument to install two night sky meters which will enable this wonderful national treasure to become an int…
344E-367-Future Impactor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Carson Fuls discovered a 33 foot diameter asteroid which has about a 1.1% chance of impacting the Earth on 569 encounters with our planet between 2045 and 2116. Its name is 2017 LD. It is…
856-Big One [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Vivian Carvajal was asteroid hunting in the constellation of Cepheus with our small but mighty Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona when she discovered 2025 JB1.Fortunately on its cur…
343E-366-3 Explorers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Recently, my Grandsons, Dane and Hank joined our asteroid hunting team at the Catalina Sky Survey 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon. The most interesting of our discoveries, 2017 KJ32 is only 16 feet in diameter, orbits th…
855-Planetary Defense [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
In 2016 NASA created the Planetary Defense Coordination Office to manage the mission of finding, tracking, and studying asteroids and comets which could pose an impact threat to our home planet.The NASA documentary “Plan…
342E-365-Tabby's Star [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
The mystery of Tabby's star began to unfold when in 2015 Dr. Tabetha S. Boyajian [boy-AA-jee-uhn] of Louisiana State University and her team published a paper describing the irregular dips in the light output of what oth…

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