(523662) 2012 MU2

Last updated

(523662) 2012 MU2
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Catalina Sky Srvy.
Discovery site Catalina Stn.
Discovery date18 June 2012
Designations
(523662) 2012 MU2
2012 MU2
Apollo  · NEO  · PHA [1] [2]
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 6.23 yr (2,277 d)
Aphelion 3.1119 AU
Perihelion 0.9987 AU
2.0553 AU
Eccentricity 0.5141
2.95 yr (1,076 d)
114.89°
0° 20m 4.2s / day
Inclination 11.222°
250.33°
16.587°
Earth  MOID 0.0011 AU (0.43 LD)
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
240  m (est.) [3]
20.8 [1] [2]

    (523662) 2012 MU2, provisional designation 2012 MU2, is a sub-kilometer asteroid on an eccentric orbit, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. [2] It was discovered on 18 June 2012 by astronomers of the Catalina Sky Survey at an apparent magnitude of 19.9 using a 0.68-meter (27 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. [4] It has an estimated diameter of 240 meters (790 ft). [3] The asteroid was listed on Sentry Risk Table with a Torino Scale rating of 1 on 23 June 2012. [3]

    Contents

    Orbit and classification

    2012 MU2 is a member of the Apollo asteroids, a group of near-Earth objects with an Earth-crossing orbit. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.0–3.1  AU once every 2 years and 11 months (1,076 days; semi-major axis of 2.06 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.51 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic. [2]

    On 24 June 2012 with an observation arc of 6 days, 2012 MU2 showed a 1 in 7,140 chance of impacting Earth on 1 June 2015. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on the next day (25 June). [5]

    With an observation arc of 113 days, the JPL Small-Body Database (solution JPL 42 dated 2013-Aug-05) shows that 2012 MU2 may make a very close approach to asteroid 29 Amphitrite on 8 April 2179. [6] The minimum approach distance is about 0.000032  AU (4,800  km ; 3,000  mi ), but the maximum distance is 0.14 AU (21,000,000 km; 13,000,000 mi). [6] The nominal approach is 0.047 AU (7,000,000 km; 4,400,000 mi). [6]

    The Earth approach in 2015 occurred on 15 May 2015 at a distance of 0.11485 AU (17,181,000 km; 10,676,000 mi). [6]

    Numbering and naming

    This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 25 September 2018 ( M.P.C. 111778). [7] As of 2018, it has not been named. [1]

    Related Research Articles

    1994 WR12 is an asteroid and near-Earth object approximately 130 meters (430 feet) in diameter. As a member of the Aten group almost all of its orbit is closer to the Sun than Earth is. On 24 November 1994 it passed about 374100 km from the Moon. First imaged at Kitami Observatory on 26 November 1994, it was discovered two nights later by American astronomer Carolyn S. Shoemaker at Palomar Observatory on 28 November 1994. The asteroid then went unobserved from 1994 until it was recovered by Mauna Kea in March 2016. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 2 April 2016.

    (529366) 2009 WM1, provisional designation 2009 WM1, is a sub-kilometer asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 280 meters (920 feet) in diameter. After its discovery by the Catalina Sky Survey at the Catalina Station in Arizona, United States, this potentially hazardous asteroid was briefly listed at a Torino Scale of 1 and a cumulative Palermo Scale of −0.87. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 26 June 2013.

    2010 AU118 (also written 2010 AU118) is a potential Amor near-Earth asteroid with an observation arc of only 1.4 days and thus a poorly determined orbit. It was announced on 27 May 2010 based on images taken by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) on 13–15 January 2010. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 14 June 2014 as a result of an update to the Sentry software. Another software update restored it to the Sentry Risk Table in 2017. It was again removed from the sentry list on 3 October 2018.

    (242450) 2004 QY2 (prov. designation:2004 QY2) is an asteroid on an eccentric orbit, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 20 August 2004 by the Siding Spring Survey at an apparent magnitude of 16.5 using the 0.5-metre (20 in) Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope. It is one of the largest potentially hazardous asteroids known to exist.

    <span class="nowrap">(511002) 2013 MZ<sub>5</sub></span>

    (511002) 2013 MZ5, provisional designation 2013 MZ5, is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Amor group, estimated to measure approximately 300 meters (1,000 feet) in diameter. It was discovered on 18 June 2013, by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui, Hawaii, in the United States. It was the 10,000th near-Earth object ever discovered.

    (454101) 2013 BP73, provisional designation 2013 BP73, is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 310 meters (1,020 ft) in diameter.

    2013 TV135 is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid estimated to have a diameter of 450 meters (1,480 ft). On 16 September 2013, it passed about 0.0448 AU (6,700,000 km; 4,160,000 mi) from Earth. On 20 September 2013, it came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun). The asteroid was discovered on 12 October 2013 by Ukrainian amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov with a custom 0.2-meter (7.9 in) telescope using images dating back to 8 October 2013. It was rated level 1 on the Torino Scale from 16 October 2013 until JPL solution 26 on 3 November 2013. It reached a Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale rating of -0.73. It was removed from the JPL Sentry Risk Table on 8 November 2013 using JPL solution 32 with an observation arc of 27 days.

    2014 UR116, also known as 2008 XB, is an eccentric sub-kilometer asteroid, categorized as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group with a diameter of approximately 400 meters (1,300 ft). It was first observed on 1 December 2008, by the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona, United States.

    2014 XL7 is a near-Earth object and Apollo asteroid, approximately 230 meters (750 feet) in diameter. It was the most dangerous potentially hazardous asteroid on Sentry Risk Table upon its discovery by the Mount Lemmon Survey in December 2014. At the time, the asteroid had a cumulative 1 in 83000 chance of impacting Earth on 4–5 June between the years 2048 and 2084. After the object's observation arc had been extended to 35 days, it was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 15 January 2015. Since then the asteroid's orbit has been secured. Although it has an Earth minimum orbit intersection distance of less than one lunar distance, there are no projected close encounters with Earth in the foreseeable future, with its closest passage to occur in May 2046, still millions of kilometers away.

    2012 UE34 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter. It was first observed on 18 October 2012, by Pan-STARRS at Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui, Hawaii, in the United States. The object was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 29 December 2013. On 8 April 2041 it will pass Earth at a nominal distance of 0.0007329 AU (110,000 km; 68,000 mi). Due to its presumed small size, it does not qualify as a potentially hazardous asteroid, despite its low Earth MOID.

    (549948) 2011 WL2 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It was discovered on 16 November 2011, by astronomers with the LINEAR at the Lincoln Laboratory ETS near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States.

    (585310) 2017 YZ1, provisional designation: 2017 YZ1, is a sub-kilometer asteroid on an eccentric orbit, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 250 meters (800 feet) in diameter. It was first observed on 20 December 2017, by astronomers with the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. On 29 January 2018, it passed Earth at 125 lunar distances.

    <span class="nowrap">2017 XO<sub>2</sub></span>

    2017 XO2, also written 2017 XO2, is a sub-kilometer asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group approximately 110 meters (360 feet) in diameter. The asteroid was discovered by Pan-STARRS in December 2017, after it already had approached Earth at 0.051 AU (7,600,000 km) or 20 lunar distances (LD) on 6 November 2017. On 26 April 2057, it will pass Earth at a similar distance of 21 LD again.

    <span class="nowrap">2010 WC<sub>9</sub></span>

    2010 WC9, unofficially designated ZJ99C60, is a sub-kilometer near-Earth asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 100 meters (330 feet) in diameter. First observed for eleven days by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2010, the asteroid was recovered in May 2018 during its sub-lunar close encounter with Earth.

    <span class="nowrap">2018 LF<sub>16</sub></span>

    2018 LF16 is a small Mars crossing asteroid roughly 213 m (699 ft) in diameter. It was first observed by astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory on 14 June 2018. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 29 July 2021. With an observation arc of 15 years the orbit is very well known and it does not make any notable approaches to Earth.

    <span class="nowrap">2018 XB<sub>4</sub></span>

    2018 XB4 (also written 2018 XB4) is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 53 meters (170 feet) in diameter. It was discovered on 13 December 2018 when the asteroid was about 0.125 AU (18,700,000 km; 11,600,000 mi) from Earth and had a solar elongation of 146°. It passed closest approach to Earth on 1 January 2019. Of the asteroids discovered in 2018, it had the highest Palermo scale rating at –3.6. In mid-2019 it was recovered which extended the observation arc to 177 days and was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 12 June 2019. It is now known that on 22 June 2092 the asteroid will pass about 0.033±0.015 AU from Earth.

    2014 MV67 (also written 2014 MV67) was a lost asteroid with an observation arc less than 1 day. It had an assumed orbital eccentricity and a very poorly constrained orbit. Depending on the orbit, it could have been a potentially hazardous asteroid, roughly 540 meters (1,770 feet) in diameter, or it could turn out to be a Mars-crosser or even a main-belt asteroid as were the cases with 2004 BX159 and 2010 GZ60. It was recovered by Pan-STARRS in September 2021 and is now known to be a Mars-crossing asteroid.

    2007 FT3 (also written 2007 FT3) is a lost asteroid with a short observation arc of 1.2 days that can not be recovered with targeted observations and awaits serendipitous survey observations. It has a poorly constrained orbit and has not been seen since 2007. It was first observed on 20 March 2007 when the asteroid was estimated to be 0.19 ± 0.01 AU (28.4 ± 1.5 million km) from Earth and had a solar elongation of 107 degrees. 2007 FT3 is the fourth largest asteroid with better than a 1-in-2 million cumulative chance of impacting Earth after (29075) 1950 DA, 1979 XB, and 101955 Bennu. With a cumulative Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale of -2.93, the poorly known orbit and assumed size place 2007 FT3 fifth on an unconstrained listing of the Sentry Risk Table. The asteroid is not expected to be near the Earth in October 2024.

    1979 XB is a lost asteroid with a short observation arc of 3.9 days that cannot be recovered with targeted observations and awaits serendipitous survey observations. It is classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group and is estimated to be 660 meters in diameter. The unnumbered minor planet has a poorly constrained orbit and has not been observed in 40 years. It has been listed on the Sentry Risk Table since the list started in 2002. With a cumulative Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale of −2.72, the poorly known orbit and assumed size place 1979 XB third on an unconstrained listing of the Sentry Risk Table.

    2020 AP1 is an Apollo near-Earth object roughly 5 meters (20 feet) in diameter. On 2 January 2020 it passed 0.00218 AU (326 thousand km; 0.85 LD) from Earth. With a short 1-day observation arc it was roughly expected to pass about 0.01 AU (1.5 million km; 3.9 LD) from Earth on 7 January 2022, but with an uncertainty of ±8 days for the close approach date it could have passed significantly closer or further.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "523662 (2012 MU2)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 523662 (2012 MU2)" (2018-09-12 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 9 October 2018.
    3. 1 2 3 "Observations of small Solar-System bodies (2012 MU2)". hohmanntransfer. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
    4. "MPEC 2012-M24 : 2012 MU2". IAU Minor Planet Center. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2013. (K12M02U)
    5. "Date/Time Removed". NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
    6. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Close-Approach Data: (2012 MU2)" (last observation: 2015-06-14; arc: 1091 days). Retrieved 3 July 2015.
    7. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 9 October 2018.