is a
near-Earth object and
potentially hazardous asteroid
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 are ...
of the
Amor group
Amor Group was Scotland's largest independent business technology company before being acquired by Lockheed Martin in September 2013. The business was formed after a £28 million management buyout of Glasgow based Real Time Engineering Ltd. an ...
, approximately in diameter. It has an
eccentric orbit
In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values betw ...
that brings it sometimes close to Earth's orbit, and sometimes halfway between
Mars and
Jupiter. It is a dark
D-type asteroid
D-type asteroids have a very low albedo and a featureless reddish Asteroid spectral types, spectrum. It has been suggested that they have a composition of organic-rich silicates, carbon and anhydrous silicates, possibly with water ice in their inte ...
which means that it may be reddish in color.
Due to its relatively low transfer cost of ~5.5 km/s,
was under consideration by the
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
as a candidate target for the
Don Quijote mission to study the effects of impacting a spacecraft into an asteroid; however, it is no longer under consideration.
' orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.0–2.7
AU once every 2 years and 7 months (932 days;
semi-major axis
In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter: a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the two most widely separated points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis (major semiaxis) is the long ...
of 1.87 AU). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.45 and an
inclination of 1
° with respect to the
ecliptic.
References
External links
MPEC 2002-A53 Minor Planet Electronic Circular
List of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) ''Minor Planet Center''
''Minor Planet Center''
''Minor Planet Center''
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Minor planet object articles (unnumbered)
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D-type asteroids (SMASS)
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