is a meteoroid discovered on 4 February 2011 by

Richard A. Kowalski Richard A. Kowalski (born 1963) is an American astronomer who has discovered numerous asteroids and comets, among them, many near-Earth objects. Kowalski has had a lifelong interest in astronomy with an emphasis on planetary science. As an amate ...

, at the Catalina Sky Survey. On the same day the meteoroid passed within 0.85

Earth radii Earth radius (denoted as ''R''🜨 or R_E) is the distance from the center of Earth to a point on or near its surface. Approximating the figure of Earth by an Earth spheroid, the radius ranges from a maximum of nearly (equatorial radius, deno ...

() of Earth's surface, and was perturbed from the

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

class to the Aten class of near-Earth objects. With a relative velocity of only 9.7 km/s, had the asteroid passed less than 0.5 Earth radii from Earth's surface, it would have fallen as a brilliant

fireball Fireball may refer to: Science * Fireball (meteor), a brighter-than-usual meteor * Ball lightning, an atmospheric electrical phenomenon * ''Bassia scoparia'', a plant species Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Fireball'', a 1950 film starring ...

. The meteoroid is between and wide. The meteoroid was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 5 February 2011. It was not until 2020 QG on 16 August 2020 that a non-impacting closer approach to Earth was observed.

References

External links

Tiny Asteroid Zips Close By Earth
space.com 6 February 2011

New Scientist 9 February 2011

Space.com 23 February 2011 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:2011 CQ1 # Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) # 20110204 20110204

See also

References

External links