is a very small
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. ...
, classified as
near-Earth object
A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (Apsis, perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical unit ...
of the
Apollo group
Apollo Education Group, Inc. is an American corporation based in the South Phoenix area of Phoenix, Arizona, with an additional corporate office in Chicago, Illinois.
The company owns and operates several higher-learning institutions, includin ...
, that passed between
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 sur ...
and the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
on 8 September 2010, at 21:12 UTC, approaching Earth within above
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
.
The asteroid was discovered by the
Mount Lemmon Survey
Mount Lemmon Survey (MLS) is a part of the Catalina Sky Survey with observatory code G96. MLS uses a cassegrain reflector telescope (with 10560x10560-pixel camera at the f/1.6 prime focus, for a five square degree field of view) operated by ...
near
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
on 5 September 2010 along with .
Based on a short 7-day
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 ...
from that apparation, it was listed for 12 years on the
Sentry Risk Table
Sentry is a highly automated impact prediction system operated by the JPL Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS) since 2002. It continually monitors the most up-to-date asteroid catalog for possibilities of future impact with Earth over the next 100+ y ...
as the asteroid with the greatest known probability (5%) of impacting Earth.
[Many small and harmless asteroids (less than ~10 meters in diameter) impact Earth every year but very few are discovered and predicted, see ]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 ...
. was recovered in August 2022,
and now has a 12 year observation arc and a much better known orbit. As of the December 2022 solution which accounts for nongravitational forces,
[ there is a 1-in-10 chance of an Earth impact on 5 September 2095.][
]
Description
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
's Near Earth Program estimates its size to be in diameter with a mass of around 500 tonnes.[ will make many more close approaches to Earth.][) as the rock ]air burst
An air burst or airburst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target. The principal military advantage of an air burst over ...
s in the upper atmosphere and pebble sized fragments would likely fall to the ground at terminal velocity.How a Near-Earth Object Impact Might Affect Society, 9 January 2003, Clark R. Chapman, SwRI, Boulder CO USA
/ref> The power of the airburst would be somewhere between the 2–4 m Sutter's Mill meteorite
The Sutter's Mill meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite which entered the Earth's atmosphere and broke up at about 07:51 Pacific Time on April 22, 2012, with fragments landing in the United States. The name comes from Sutter's Mill, a California ...
and the 17 m Chelyabinsk meteor
The Chelyabinsk meteor was a superbolide that entered Earth's atmosphere over the southern Ural region in Russia on 15 February 2013 at about 09:20 YEKT (03:20 UTC). It was caused by an approximately near-Earth asteroid that entered the at ...
(which was 440 KT equivalent energy).apparent magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's ...
22.6 by late February. On 10 September 1915 it passed from Earth.
See also
* , a similar-sized asteroid that passed Earth the same day
* , another near-Earth asteroid (may be Saturn V stage IV rocket booster)
*
* 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 asteroid close approaches to Earth
This is a list of examples where an asteroid or meteoroid travels close to the Earth. Some are regarded as potentially hazardous objects if they are estimated to be large enough to cause regional devastation.
Near-Earth object detection technol ...
, for other close approaches
* Earth-grazing fireball
* Meteoroid
A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space.
Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...
Notes
References
External links
Risk corridor over Southern Hemisphere
2010 RF12: A second asteroid will buzz the Earth today
csmonitor.com, September 8, 2010
''The Planetary Society
The Planetary Society is an American internationally-active non-governmental nonprofit organization. It is involved in research, public outreach, and political space advocacy for engineering projects related to astronomy, planetary science, a ...
'', September 8, 2010
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:2010 RF12
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Minor planet object articles (unnumbered)
Potential impact events caused by near-Earth objects
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