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	Asteroid Toutatis
		Toutatis is one of the strangest objects in the solar system, with a highly irregular shape and an extraordinarily complex "tumbling" rotation.
		This means that the rotation of Toutatis is a remarkable, well-preserved relic of the collision-related evolution of an asteroid.
		The red, green, and blue axes are the principal axes of inertia; the magenta axis is the angular momentum vector; the yellow axis is the spin vector.
	www.solarviews.com /eng/toutatis.htm (1119 words)

	4179 Toutatis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The asteroid 4179 Toutatis (too-ta'-tis) is an Apollo, an Alinda and a Mars-crosser asteroid with a chaotic orbit produced by a 3:1 resonance with the planet Jupiter.
		Radar imagery has shown that Toutatis is a highly irregular body consisting of two distinct "lobes", with maximum widths of about 4.6 km and 2.4 km respectively.
		It is hypothesized that Toutatis formed from two originally separate bodies which coalesced at some point, with the resultant asteroid being compared to a "rubble pile".
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/4179_Toutatis (432 words)

	Asteroid Toutatis
		Toutatis is a "yam-shaped" rock that measures 1.92 km by 2.29 km by 4.6 km (1.2 by 1.4 by 2.9 miles).
		Toutatis was a god of war, growth and prosperity who represented the unity and the harmony of the tribe.
		Toutatis is named after a Celtic god of war, whose name means 'king of battle' or 'father of the tribe'.
	www.windows.ucar.edu /asteroids/toutatis.html.backup.2004_10_11 (821 words)

	astronomy news
		Toutatis will be moving at its greatest apparent speed, nearly 1.5' per minute of time, making it fairly easy to identify the 10th-magnitude visitor in a telescope each time it goes by a background star.
		Toutatis is an extremely irregular, almost bowling-pin-shaped body 4.6 by 2.4 by 1.9 km in size.
		"The rotation of Toutatis is a remarkable, well-preserved relic of the collision-related evolution of an asteroid.
	www.geocities.com /goarana669/toutatis.html (898 words)

	4179 Toutatis
		Toutatis doesn't have anything that could be called a 'day.' Its rotation is the result of two different types of motion with periods of 5.4 and 7.3 Earth days, that combine in such a way that Toutatis's orientation with respect to the solar system never repeats.
		Radar was used to obtain images in 1992, when Toutatis passed to within 3.6 million kilometers from the Earth.
		On September 29, 2004, Toutatis will pass by Earth at a range of four times the distance between the Earth and the Moon, the closest approach of any known asteroid or cometbetween now and 2027.
	www.geocities.com /zlipanov/selected_asteroids/4179_toutatis/4179_toutatis.html (694 words)

	Rednova NEWS \| Toutatis: Almost Too Close for Comfort (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		Toutatis, also known as asteroid 4179, is 4.6 kilometers (2.9 miles) long and 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide.
		Although Toutatis will be in the far southern sky when it is closest to Earth, the asteroid is expected to brighten a few days prior to a 10th magnitude point of light visible from the Northern Hemisphere.
		Toutatis won't be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars should suffice for spotting it in the night sky.
	www.rednova.com /modules/news/tools.php?tool=print&id=89310 (855 words)

	SPACE.com -- City-Sized Asteroid to Pass Earth This Fall
		Toutatis hasn't been so near since the year 1353 and won't be that close again until 2562, NASA scientists have calculated.
		Other asteroids in the size range of Toutatis have surely navigated that window, too, but were unseen in eras when the skies were not scanned so fully as today.
		Toutatis will be four times farther than the Moon; the Moon is about the size of Earth.
	www.space.com /scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_040503.html (1200 words)

	Very Close Approach by Asteroid Toutatis Not a Crisis (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		Toutatis is a very irregularly shaped object measuring roughly 4.6 by 2.3 by 1.9 kilometers (2.9 by 1.4 by 1.2 miles).
		Toutatis' complex topography may indicate that, rather than being one solid object, it is in fact two objects closely bound together.
		Toutatis' spectral properties identify it as an S-class asteroid, a type that is common in the inner solar system.
	www.planetary.org /news/2004/toutatis_0928.html (1986 words)

	Toutatis (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		In 1989, asteroid 4179 was discovered by French astronomers and named Toutatis after a Celtic god that was the protector of the tribe in ancient Gaul.
		The radar images of Toutatis reveal two irregularly shaped, cratered objects about 4 and 2.5 kilometers in average diameter which are probably in contact with each other.
		Toutatis is one of the strangest objects in the solar system, with a highly irregular shape and an extraordinarily complex
	jersey.uoregon.edu /~js/ast121/lectures/toutatis.html (256 words)

	4179 Toutatis (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		The asteroid 4179 Toutatis is an Apollo asteroid and an Alinda asteroid with a chaotic orbit produced by a 3:1 resonance the planet Jupiter.
		Its rotation combines two separate periodic motions combine to produce a nonperiodic rotation; to on the surface of Toutatis the Sun would seem to rise and set apparently random locations and times at the horizon.
		Radar imagery has shown that Toutatis is highly irregular body consisting of two distinct with maximum widths of about 4.6 km 2.4 km respectively.
	www.freeglossary.com /4179_Toutatis (585 words)

	Asteroid 4179 Toutatis (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		Asteroid 4179 Toutatis (formerly 1989 AC) was discovered by C. Pollas on January 4, 1989, at Caussols, France, on photographic plates taken on the 0.9-m Schmidt telescope by Alain Maury and Derral Mulholland during astrometric observations of Jupiter's faint satellites.
		Toutatis may have the most chaotic orbit studied to date, a consequence of the asteroid's frequent close approaches to Earth.
		Using the physical model of Toutatis derived from 1992 radar observations (Hudson and Ostro 1995, Science 270, 84-86) to analyze the new data, we obtain refined estimates of the asteroid's orbit, spin state, and surface properties.
	echo.jpl.nasa.gov /asteroids/4179_Toutatis/toutatis.html (2595 words)

	Sep. 29th 2004 -Toutatis Asteroid Coming Too Close? - Softpedia
		Toutatis is the protector of Asterix and his compatriots, who fear nothing except that someday the sky may fall on their heads.
		A scientist equated it's closeness to earth as being comparable to a man at one end of a tennis court throwing a marble at a man at the other end of the court and missing his head by the width of a hand.
		Toutatis will be so bright that skywatchers will be able to easily see it through binoculars.
	news.softpedia.com /news/2/2004/March/7716.shtml (930 words)

	APOD: 2004 October 1 - Earth Nears Asteroid Toutatis (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		Toutatis appeared only as a faint object rapidly moving against a background of stars.
		asteroid 4179, Toutatis is in an eccentric 4 year orbit which moves it from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to just inside Earth's orbit.
		When the Earth passed near it in 1992 Toutatis was imaged by radar and seen to be two irregularly shaped lumps, perhaps joined by a narrow neck.
	antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov /apod/ap041001.html (229 words)

	Toutatis (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		At 4.6 kilometres long and 2.4 kilometres wide, 4179 Toutatis, as it is officially known, would overshadow the CBD of Sydney.
		On Wednesday, Toutatis will be 250 times brighter than it was two months ago, but it will still be 16 times dimmer than the faintest stars that can be seen with unaided eyes.
		Normally, Toutatis could be spied with binoculars from locations away from city lights, but the brightness of the nearly-full Moon on Wednesday will make the asteroid harder to see.
	www.gaiaguys.net /Toutatis.htm (3569 words)

	Shaded Relief Map of Asteroid 4179 Toutatis
		As with all maps, it is the cartographer's interpretation and not all features are necessarily certain given the limited data available - this interpretation stretches the data as far as is feasible.
		Toutatis was imaged by delay-doppler radar at Goldstone and Arecibo in December 1992.
		A polyhedral model of the shape of Toutatis was derived from the radar images and is described in:
	www.solarviews.com /cap/ast/toutmap1.htm (344 words)

	Toutatis (minor planet 4179)
		In December 1992, Toutatis came within about 4 million km of Earth enabling radar images to be acquired using the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California's Mojave desert.
		Numerous surface features on Toutatis, including a pair of large craters, side by side, and a series of three prominent ridges — a type of asteroid mountain range - are presumed to result from a complex history of impacts.
		Whereas the vast majority of asteroids, and all the planets, spin about a single axis, Toutatis tumbles around two axes with different periods, of 5.4 and 7.3 Earth days, that combine in such a way that Toutatis’s orientation with respect to the Solar System never repeats.
	www.daviddarling.info /encyclopedia/T/Toutatis.html (385 words)

	NASA - Large Asteroid Zooms Safely Past Earth
		Although asteroid 4179 Toutatis came no closer than four times the distance between Earth and the Moon (approximately 1.5 million kilometers or 961,000 miles), this is the closest approach of any known asteroid of comparable size this century.
		Named after an obscure Celtic and Gallic god, Toutatis is a yam-shaped space rock that measures 1.92 kilometers (1.2 miles) by 2.29 kilometers (1.4 miles) by 4.6 kilometers (2.9 miles).
		Toutatis has one of the strangest rotation states observed in the solar system.
	www.nasa.gov /vision/universe/watchtheskies/toutatis-092804.html (354 words)

	News in Science - By Toutatis, the sky is falling - 28/09/2004
		NASA has classified Toutatis as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid because it passes closer to Earth than the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
		Toutatis has the most erratic orbit of anything in the Solar System because it passes close to Jupiter and Earth at either ends of its orbit, said Ford.
		Toutatis will appear to thin into a crescent as it passes and will be visible by telescope or powerful binoculars.
	www.abc.net.au /cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?/science/news/stories/s1203122.htm (567 words)

	News Article: Close Flyby This Week from Asteroid Toutatis (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		The asteroid 4179 Toutatis turned out to be long and lumpy when Steven Ostro and colleagues got radar images of it during a flyby in December 1992.
		Toutatis follows a four-year, eccentric orbit that carries it from the asteroid belt to just inside the orbit of Earth.
		Discovered in 1989, Toutatis is probably one of the most studied asteroids of all because its most recent circuits have brought it so close to Earth.
	nai.arc.nasa.gov /impact/news_detail.cfm?ID=151 (2817 words)

	Brace yourselves Earthlings - Science - www.theage.com.au
		Toutatis - its peanut shape is five kilometres across - would stretch across Melbourne from Government House to the zoo.
		The asteroid Toutatis is almost five kilometres long and 2.4 kilometres wide and shaped like a peanut.
		But Nick Lomb, curator of astronomy at Sydney Observatory, said astronomers had been plotting the path of Toutatis ever since it was discovered in 1989 and were certain it would pass safely by Earth.
	www.theage.com.au /articles/2004/09/18/1095394066111.html?oneclick=true (350 words)

	Sep. 29th 2004 -Toutatis Asteroid Coming Too Close?
		Toutatis was subsequently discovered and named exactly as Meier predicted in 1989, a full 10 years after this prediction was published!
		The second thing I would note about Toutatis is that a Harvard-NASA report evaluating the orbit of Toutatis, uses a fictitious planet named 'Fatum' in a similar orbit that they planned to collide with Earth in September of 2004 as a device for ascertaining the orbit of Toutatis.
		Based on the Toutatis' orbit, we deduced such orbital elements for a fictitious minor planet "Fatum" that a shape of the orbit was very similar to that of Toutatis, but we knew in advance that "Fatum" would certainly collide with the Earth in September 2004 and we calculated values of the impact parameters.
	www.rense.com /general50/sep29th2004.htm (1995 words)

	Universe Today - Toutatis Safely Passes the Earth (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		Since it was first discovered in 1989, Toutatis has been closely studied by astronomers because it has an orbit that brings it close to the Earth every 4 years.
		Detailed calculations, taking into account all available observations of this celestial body, have shown that although Toutatis passes regularly near the Earth, today's passage is the closest one for quite some time, at least until the year 2562.
		It is found to be very close to that predicted from the asteroid's position in its orbit and that of the Earth at the moment of this unique observation, 1,607,900 km.
	www.universetoday.com /am/publish/toutatis_safely_passes_earth.html?2992004 (711 words)

	Large Asteroid Will Zoom Safely Past Earth Wednesday
		Although asteroid 4179 Toutatis will come no closer than four times the distance between the Earth and the moon (approximately 961,000), this will be the closest approach of any known asteroid of comparable size this century.
		Toutatis has not passed this close to Earth since the twelfth century, and it will not be this close again until 2562.
		Toutatis, which is about half the size of the asteroid thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, possesses enough potential energy to cause havoc on a global scale if it ever did collide with Earth.
	www.spacedaily.com /news/asteroid-04j.html (1648 words)

	Why I Fear Toutatis
		Toutatis passes through our solar system every 3.98 years, with its most recent approach (in 2000) bringing it to within 29 lunar distance of the earth.
		On September 29th, 2004, Toutatis is projected to pass within a mere 4 lunar distances of the earth...or 963,000 miles.
		But let's speculate that Toutatis could create a scenario similar to the one in the film Deep Impact, where intelligence of the impending doom was accidentally leaked to the public.
	www.rense.com /general54/whyIfear.htm (2811 words)

	Toutatis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		He is best known through the Gaulish catchphrase "By Toutatis!", invented for the Asterix comics by Goscinni and Uderzo.
		He was seen as a spirit of war, productivity, constructiveness, and wealth.
		Teutates was worshipped especially in Gaul and in Roman Britain, altar-stones raised to him having been recovered in the United Kingdom, such as at Cumberland Quarries (1017 [IOM et Mars Toutatis]).
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Toutatis (372 words)

	Asteroid Close Encounter Today (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		Toutatis makes an elliptical four-year trek around the sun that takes it from just inside Earth's orbital path to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
		French astronomer Christian Pollas discovered Toutatis in 1989 as he was examining photographic plates of Jupiter's faint satellites.
		(Toutatis is the protector of Asterix and his companions, who fear nothing except that the sky may someday fall on their heads.)
	news.nationalgeographic.com /news/2004/09/0924_040924_asteroid_toutatis.html (509 words)

	SPACE.com -- Huge Asteroid to Fly Past Earth Wednesday
		The position of the asteroid on this pass is known to a precision roughly equal to the rock's size, said Alan Harris, a senior research scientist at the Space Science Institute.
		Finding Toutatis will be challenging, Harris said, due to a combination of the asteroid's position in the sky and interfering moonlight.
		Instead of a fixed north pole, Toutatis' axis of rotation wanders in two separate cycles of 5.4 and 7.3 Earth-days.
	www.space.com /scienceastronomy/toutatis_flyby_040927.html (1124 words)

	hires_toutatis.html (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		A model of the shape of Toutatis based on "high-resolution" radar images obtained in 1992 and 1996 consists of 39,996 triangular facets of roughly equal area, defined by the locations of 20,000 vertices.
		However, it may be impossible to decipher the interior structure and responsible collisional history of Toutatis and other small objects without extended, intensive, direct examination.
		An animation that shows the high-resolution model of Toutatis rotating is available as either a mov file or an avi file.
	echo.jpl.nasa.gov /~ostro/toutatis (179 words)

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