Re: [guide-user] Tonights asteroid pass

Bill J Gray Mar 20, 2009

Hi Gerhard,

You're apt to need the 'neatod' file, as Clay suggested.
The problem is that Guide does a two-body solution, so the
perturbations are not included. For most objects, most of the
time, that's not a problem. But when an object comes as
close as 2009 DO111 did, those perturbations matter.

The default epoch of osculation used in MPC elements can
be up to 100 days away from "right now", and ignoring a hundred
days of perturbations for a close NEO like this can mean a 45
arcminute error, as you found. Use 'neatod', getting an epoch
very close to the present, fixes this problem.

Dunno why it didn't work for you, though; that's quite odd.
When you click on 2009 DO111 and ask for 'more info', what
epoch does it show?

-- Bill