Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance
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Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) is a measure used in
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
to assess potential close approaches and collision risks between astronomical objects. It is defined as the distance between the closest points of the
osculating orbit In astronomy, and in particular in astrodynamics, the osculating orbit of an object in space at a given moment in time is the gravitational Kepler orbit (i.e. an elliptic or other conic one) that it would have around its central body if perturba ...
s of two bodies. Of greatest interest is the risk of a collision with
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. Earth MOID is often listed on
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
and
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
databases such as the
JPL Small-Body Database The JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB) is an astronomy database about small Solar System bodies. It is maintained by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and NASA and provides data for all known asteroids and several comets, including orbital parameters and ...
. MOID values are also defined with respect to other bodies as well:
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
MOID,
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
MOID and so on. An object is classified as a
potentially hazardous object A potentially hazardous object (PHO) is a near-Earth object – either an asteroid or a comet – with an orbit that can make close approaches to the Earth and is large enough to cause significant regional damage in the event of impact. They ar ...
(PHO) – that is, posing a possible risk to Earth – if, among other conditions, its Earth MOID is less than 0.05 AU. For more massive bodies than Earth, there is a potentially notable close approach with a larger MOID; for instance, Jupiter MOIDs less than 1 AU are considered noteworthy since Jupiter is the most massive planet.Bruce Koehn,
Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance
, Lowell Observatory, retrieved online 14 May 2009

15 July 2015.
A low MOID does not mean that a collision is inevitable as the planets frequently perturb the orbit of small bodies. It is also necessary that the two bodies reach that point in their orbits at the same time before the smaller body is perturbed into a different orbit with a different MOID value. Two objects gravitationally locked in
orbital resonance In celestial mechanics, orbital resonance occurs when orbiting bodies exert regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other, usually because their orbital periods are related by a ratio of small integers. Most commonly, this relationsh ...
may never approach one another.
Numerical integration In analysis, numerical integration comprises a broad family of algorithms for calculating the numerical value of a definite integral, and by extension, the term is also sometimes used to describe the numerical solution of differential equations ...
s become increasingly divergent as trajectories are projected further forward in time, especially beyond times where the smaller body is repeatedly perturbed by other planets. MOID has the convenience that it is obtained directly from the
orbital elements Orbital elements are the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit. In celestial mechanics these elements are considered in two-body systems using a Kepler orbit. There are many different ways to mathematically describe the same ...
of the body and no numerical integration into the future is used. The only object that has ever been rated at 4 on the
Torino Scale The Torino scale is a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects (NEOs) such as asteroids and comets. It is intended as a communication tool for astronomers and the public to assess the seriousness of collision pre ...
(since downgraded), the
Aten asteroid The Aten asteroids are a dynamical group of asteroids whose orbits bring them into proximity with Earth. By definition, Atens are Earth-crossing asteroids . The group is named after 2062 Aten, the first of its kind, discovered on 7 January ...
(99942) Apophis, has an Earth MOID of 0.000316 AU. This is not the smallest Earth MOID in the catalogues; many bodies with a small Earth MOID are not classed as PHO's because the objects are less than roughly 140 meters in diameter (or
absolute magnitude Absolute magnitude () is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse Logarithmic scale, logarithmic Magnitude (astronomy), astronomical magnitude scale. An object's absolute magnitude is defined to be equal to the apparent mag ...
, ''H'' > 22). Earth MOID values are generally more practical for asteroids less than 140 meters in diameter as those asteroids are very dim and often have a short
observation arc In observational astronomy, the observation arc (or arc length) of a Solar System body is the time period between its earliest and latest observations, used for tracing the body's path. It is usually given in days or years. The term is mostly use ...
with a poorly determined orbit. As of June 2022, there have been five objects detected and their Earth-MOID calculated before the Earth impact. The first two objects that were detected and had their Earth-MOID calculated before Earth impact were the small asteroids and 2014 AA. was listed with a MOID of 0.00001 AU in the
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...
database, and is the smallest MOID calculated for an
Apollo asteroid The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They are Earth-crossing asteroids that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of the Earth ...
. It is even smaller at the more precise JPL Small Body Database (0.0000078 AU).2008 TC3
at JPL Small Body Database. Retrieved 14 May 2009
archived
15 July 2015.


See also

*
Asteroid impact prediction Asteroid impact prediction is the prediction of the dates and times of asteroids impacting Earth, along with the locations and severities of the impacts. The process of impact prediction follows three major steps: # Discovery of an asteroid and ...
*
List of Mercury-crossing minor planets A Mercury crosser is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mercury. The Mercury crossers proper have aphelia outside Mercury's (0.4667 AU) and perihelia inside Mercury's (0.3075 AU), whereas those listed here as outer grazers have perihelia wit ...
*
List of Venus-crossing minor planets A Venus-crosser is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Venus. There are 2,809
*
List of Earth-crossing minor planets An Earth-crosser is a near-Earth asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Earth as observed from the ecliptic pole of Earth's orbit. The known numbered Earth-crossers are listed here. Those Earth-crossers whose semi-major axes are smaller than Ea ...
*
List of Mars-crossing minor planets A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers numbered below 100000 are listed here. They include the two numbered Mars trojans 5261 Eureka and . Many databases, for ...
*
List of Jupiter-crossing minor planets A Jupiter-crosser is a minor planet whose orbit crosses that of Jupiter. Jupiter trojans can be inner grazers (105), outer grazers (52), co-orbitals (183), and crossers (537). Discounting them, there is one numbered, 7 non-numbered, and 19 cometar ...
*
List of Saturn-crossing minor planets A Saturn-crosser is a minor planet whose orbit crosses that of Saturn. The known numbered Saturn-crossers (as of 2005) are listed below. There is only one inner-grazer (944 Hidalgo) and no outer-grazers or co-orbitals known; most if not all of the ...
*
List of Uranus-crossing minor planets A Uranus-crosser is a minor planet whose orbit crosses that of Uranus. The numbered Uranus-crossers (as of 2005) are listed below. Most, if not all, are centaurs. Notes: † inner-grazer; ‡ outer-grazer * 2060 Chiron † * 5145 Pholus * 5335 ...
*
List of Neptune-crossing minor planets A Neptune-crosser is a minor planet whose orbit crosses that of Neptune. The dwarf planet Pluto is the most massive example of this class of object. The known numbered Neptune-crossers (as of 2005) are: ''Notes'': ‡ outer-grazer † 134340 P ...


References


External links


Fast Geometric Method for Calculating Accurate Minimum Orbit Intersection Distances
(PDF)
MOID for all NEOs (Near-Earth Objects) for Mercury to Jupiter (Updated Daily)






{{Small Solar System bodies Near-Earth objects Space hazards Orbits Astrodynamics