is a sub-kilometer asteroid with a somewhat elongated and angular shape, approximately in diameter. It is 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 (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...

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

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 ...

or Amor group. The

V-type asteroid A V-type asteroid or Vestoid is an asteroid whose spectral type is that of 4 Vesta. Approximately 6% of main-belt asteroids are vestoids, with Vesta being by far the largest of them. They are relatively bright, and rather similar to the more common ...

has a rotation period of approximately 1.5 hours. It was first observed on 10 November 2017 by the 60-inch

Pan-STARRS The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS1; obs. code: F51 and Pan-STARRS2 obs. code: F52) located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, consists of astronomical cameras, telescopes and a computing facility that is ...

1 telescope at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii.

Orbit and classification

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.0–1.7 AU once every 1 years and 7 months (585 days; semi-major axis of 1.37 AU). Its orbit has an

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.27 and an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

of 9 ° with respect to the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic agains ...

. is a

with a bright surface.

2018 flyby

passed 0.0097 AU (3.76 lunar distances) from Earth on 7 March 2018, the closest approach by this asteroid currently known. It brightened to 12th

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

, making it one of the brightest Near Earth asteroids of the year. It was observed by radar from Goldstone,

Green Bank A green bank (sometimes referred to as green investment bank, clean energy finance authority, or clean energy finance corporation) is a financial institution, typically public or quasi-public, that uses innovative financing techniques and market ...

and Arecibo Observatory. Images revealed that is a slightly elongated and angular body with a size of approximately 160 by 100 meters.

Physical characteristics

Images obtained at Green Bank and Arecibo observatories in 2018, revealed that is a slightly elongated and angular body with a size of approximately 160 by 100 meters.

Rotation period

On 5 March 2018, a rotational

lightcurve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular freq ...

was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the

Northolt Branch Observatories The Northolt Branch Observatories (NBO; Observatory codes: Z80, Z48 and Z37) is an astronomical observatory located in London, England. NBO collects follow-up astrometry of near-Earth asteroids and other small Solar System objects. It focuses ...

. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 1.5 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.4 and 0.5

().

Gallery

File:2017 VR12 NBO 2018-02-15.png, , imaged at

on 15 February 2018. The asteroid is visible at 17th magnitude at this point, at a distance of 10.4 million km (6.5 million mi) from Earth. The image is inverted (stars appear dark, the background appears light). File:2017 VR12 NBO 2018-02-26.png, on 26 February 2018. The asteroid is visible at 15th magnitude, at a distance of 4.8 million km (3.0 million miles) from Earth. The telescope is tracking the asteroid, causing stars to trail as the asteroid slowly moves across the sky. File:2017 VR12 NBO 2018-03-05.png, on 5 March 2018, two days before closest approach. The asteroid was 1.9 million km (1.2 million mi) from Earth at that time, visible at 13th magnitude. File:2017 vr12-flyby.png, Daily motion outside Moon's orbit. File:2017 VR12-skyview.png, Motion across the sky from north to south during the 6 hours around closest approach.

Notes

References

External links

Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
query form

)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books

– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend

– Minor Planet Center
2017 VR12: Asteroid That Could Be Bigger Than Empire State Building Is About to Pass by Earth
3/2/2018 * {{DEFAULTSORT:2017 VR12 # # Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) # Near-Earth objects in 2018 20171110