An unexpected discovery of Near-Earth Asteroid 2014 GN1 in lateMarch created a rare opportunity for an impromptu LIVE webcast as it buzzed the Earth and the Moon on April 6.
Under the expert guidance of astrophysicist Dr.Gianluca Masi in Italy using a 17 inch robotic telescope (part of the Virtual Telescope Project), a gallery of streaming images allowed the global audience of more than 2000 strong to clearly glimpse the 50 meter wide interloper on their screens as it made its closest approach to Earth at 1.2 million kilometers away.
"People could see the object as they were physically in the control room of the telescope," said Dr. Masi, the host of the online GAM2014 event.
" The Virtual Telescope technology shares with the public the very same panel used by astronomers, adding realism to the experience."
Read more on this cool event and watch the entire archived program on Dr. Masi's webpage.
Part of the Global Astronomy Month celebrations, this exciting GAM 2014 viewing session was just part of a series of LIVE telescope tours of the night sky planned for April.
Next up will be a close-up view of Mars on April 8th just in time for the Red Planet's opposition . And if views of Mars gets you excited then why not name a crater on the distant world and help AWB's global outreach efforts through this new Uwingu program. Details here: http://bit.ly/1gIZoID
Other live webcast will follow too, including one focusing on the giant asteroid Vesta on April 10, and finally on April 20 the entire starry heavens opens up its secrets as we take a journey of some of the major celestial landmarks now on display in the Spring skies of the Northern Hemisphere .
All these stunning, remote observing events are hosted courtesy of The Virtual
Telescope Project, and further details are right here.
