http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=548204

A 150-metre asteroid has been spotted from Armagh orbiting close to the
Earth - using a telescope thousands of miles away in Hawaii.

While Apostolos Christou, David Asher and Sharon McClure were at the
Armagh Observatory when they saw the asteroid 2000 PH5, their
observations were carried out by remote using the new two-metre aperture
Faulkes telescope which is on top of 10,000 foot summit of Haleakala on
the island of Maui, Hawaii.

The asteroid was, in space terms, in close proximity to the Earth, just
six times of the distance to the moon or 2,300,000 km and this enabled
the trio to watch as it appeared to race across the sky.

The images captured using the Faulkes telescope during the one-hour
session will be examined for changes in brightness as the asteroid
hurtles through space on it's orbit - one of the shortest known for such
a celestial body.

As it's orbit is on the same plane as that of Earth it would be
particularly accessible by spacecraft and, one day, may be the target of
a crewed mission.

The asteroid will return annually to our skies for the next two years
but over a longer time scale it will gradually move away owing to it's
orbital pattern being slightly less than that of the Earth.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=548204

A 150-metre asteroid has been spotted from Armagh orbiting close to the
Earth - using a telescope thousands of miles away in Hawaii.

While Apostolos Christou, David Asher and Sharon McClure were at the
Armagh Observatory when they saw the asteroid 2000 PH5, their
observations were carried out by remote using the new two-metre aperture
Faulkes telescope which is on top of 10,000 foot summit of Haleakala on
the island of Maui, Hawaii.

The asteroid was, in space terms, in close proximity to the Earth, just
six times of the distance to the moon or 2,300,000 km and this enabled
the trio to watch as it appeared to race across the sky.

The images captured using the Faulkes telescope during the one-hour
session will be examined for changes in brightness as the asteroid
hurtles through space on it's orbit - one of the shortest known for such
a celestial body.

As it's orbit is on the same plane as that of Earth it would be
particularly accessible by spacecraft and, one day, may be the target of
a crewed mission.

The asteroid will return annually to our skies for the next two years
but over a longer time scale it will gradually move away owing to it's
orbital pattern being slightly less than that of the Earth.