On September 29, Toutatis will fly silently past Earth, coming no closer than four times the Moon’s distance. Toutatis won’t linger for Northern Hemisphere observers. Plan accordingly for early September when it lies at higher declinations and the Moon interferes less. Our Star Dome can help you track the asteroid.
This close approach will give astronomers another opportunity to examine tumbling Toutatis with radar, which will help refine models of its shape and rotation. The movie below shows a current model of the asteroid based on such studies.
