BY JULIA OLSEN
julia@du2.byu.edu
Local astronomers have discovered two asteroids this month, the last being confirmed Monday evening by the international organization that tracks heavenly discoveries.
Patrick Wiggins, who insists he is just an amateur, said he and his wife, Dr. Holly Phaneuf, found the asteroids while tracking different celestial bodies.
The first asteroid, given the provisional name of 1999 VS from the International Astronomical Union, was discovered the night of Nov. 2. It was confirmed on Nov. 4.
The second asteroid, discovered two days before it was confirmed Monday, is named J99V19U for the time being.
'All this time and we hadn't discovered anything, and now we've discovered two in one month,' Wiggins said.
Although he, his wife, the Hansen Planetarium and the University of Utah are all excited about the discovery, Wiggins said the discovery of an asteroid isn't as rare as it may seem.
The first asteroid, 1999 VS, that was confirmed just four days into the month, was the 18th to have been discovered in November.
And Wiggins said discovery is just the first step in the long process both asteroids have to traverse before they become official.
Once an asteroid is discovered, Wiggins said the IAU makes a determination if it is in IAU records. If the asteroid isn't, the IAU temporarily names it and begins tracking its course. If the IAU finds the new asteroid is really one that had merely been 'lost' in the system, it is no longer deemed a discovery.
However, if after a year passes and the IAU cannot connect the discovery to any other asteroid, it is made official.
Utahns got another heavenly treat Monday when Mercury passed in front of the sun visible though telescope as a small, round black dot.
It was the first time the occurrence was visible in Utah since 1960.