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Asteroid 1996 JG was discovered on May 8, 1996, by Rob McNaught at
Siding Spring Observatory, NSW, Australia. It approached to within
0.0196 AU (2.9 million km, 8 times the distance to the Moon) on May 24.
The first radar echoes from 1996 JG were detected on May 26 at Goldstone using a two-antenna system -- transmitting from the 70-m antenna (DSS-14) and receiving at one of the 34-m antennas (DSS-13). More extensive observations with DSS-14 alone on May 27 and 28 resolved the echoes in Doppler frequency (line-of-sight velocity) and/or time delay (range), and provided a 700-km correction to the trajectory predicted by May 8-24 optical data. Delay-resolved images show a spheroidal object with an illuminated extent of about 300 meters (2 microseconds of time delay); 1996 JG's diameter could easily be a factor of two larger. The echo bandwidth suggests that 1996 JG probably is rotating several times a day.
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| Sum of all continuous wave (CW) spectra obtained on May 28. | Sum of approximately 2.5 hours of delay-Doppler imaging data obtained on May 28. The Earth is toward the top of the page and the asteroid is rotating counter-clockwise. | Sum of one hour of delay-Doppler imaging data obtained on May 29. |
Asteroid Radar Astronomy
Radar-Detected Asteroids