Early on October 15th, Brian A. Skiff (Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search, Arizona) sent measurements of four CCD images obtained with the 23-inch Catalina Schmidt telescope to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the center, Timothy B. Spahr identified the suspect with other measurements submitted in the past seven weeks -- but not recognized as unusual -- by LONEOS and by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project in New Mexico. In addition, quick action by James Young (Table Mountain Observatory, California) secured a confirmation just before dawn on the 15th.

Judging by its brightness, Hermes is a minor planet about 1 to 2 kilometers across. So it could be somewhat larger than the 1937 estimates. In a famous exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, Hermes was depicted as a sphere about the size of Central Park.

Hermes is by no means the last of the "lost asteroids" -- many thousands of others in the Minor Planet Center's database fall in this category because they could not be followed long enough for an accurate orbit to be determined. But Hermes is by far the most famous. It was discovered by Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg, Germany, on October 28, 1937, and tracked for only five days. Although never officially numbered, it has been known by the name Hermes ever since.

In late October 2003, Hermes will be bright enough (magnitude 13) to be seen in 8-inch and larger amateur telescopes as it races westward across Cetus, Pisces, and Aquarius. By month's end it will be moving 7 degrees per day and gaining. Unlike the situation in 1937, when Hermes skimmed to within 800,000 km of our planet (two Earth-Moon distances), it will pass about nine times that far on November 4, 2003. Nevertheless, the possibility of future close encounters definitely puts this object in the PHA (potentially hazardous asteroid) class.

The preliminary ephemeris below has been calculated from the orbital elements by Brian G. Marsden on Minor Planet Electronic Circular 2003-T74, issued October 15th. It gives Hermes's right ascension and declination (equinox 2000.0) at 0 hours Universal Time on each date, its distance from the Earth (Delta) and Sun (r) in astronomical units, its elongation angle from the Sun, visual magnitude, and the constellation through which it is passing. (View or print the table with a fixed-space font like Courier.)

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                  Hermes (1937 UB)

  

 Date     RA      Dec     Delta    r   Elong. Mag. Const.
(0h UT)  h   m     o  '    (au)   (au)    o      
Oct 15  01 46.2  +02 48   0.210  1.205  171   14.6   Psc
Oct 16  01 43.6  +02 39   0.200  1.195  172   14.5   Psc
Oct 17  01 40.6  +02 29   0.189  1.185  172   14.3   Cet
Oct 18  01 37.4  +02 19   0.179  1.174  173   14.2   Cet
Oct 19  01 33.7  +02 07   0.169  1.164  172   14.1   Cet
Oct 20  01 29.6  +01 54   0.159  1.153  172   13.9   Cet
Oct 21  01 24.9  +01 40   0.149  1.143  170   13.8   Cet
Oct 22  01 19.5  +01 23   0.139  1.132  169   13.7   Cet
Oct 23  01 13.4  +01 05   0.130  1.122  167   13.6   Cet
Oct 24  01 06.4  +00 45   0.120  1.111  164   13.5   Cet
Oct 25  00 58.2  +00 21   0.111  1.101  162   13.4   Cet
Oct 26  00 48.6  -00 06   0.102  1.090  158   13.3   Cet
Oct 27  00 37.3  -00 38   0.094  1.079  155   13.2   Cet
Oct 28  00 23.7  -01 15   0.085  1.069  151   13.1   Psc
Oct 29  00 07.4  -02 00   0.077  1.058  146   13.0   Psc
Oct 30  23 47.4  -02 53   0.070  1.047  140   12.9   Psc
Oct 31  23 23.1  -03 55   0.063  1.037  133   12.9   Aqr
Nov 01  22 53.3  -05 06   0.057  1.026  125   12.9   Aqr
Nov 02  22 17.4  -06 25   0.052  1.015  115   13.0   Aqr
Nov 03  21 35.7  -07 44   0.049  1.005  104   13.2   Aqr
Nov 04  20 49.7  -08 53   0.048  0.994   91   13.5   Aqr
Nov 05  20 02.8  -09 41   0.048  0.983   79   14.0   Aql
Nov 06  19 18.5  -10 04   0.051  0.973   67   14.7   Aql
Nov 07  18 39.4  -10 07   0.055  0.962   57   15.6   Sct

 

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