Discovery [1] [2] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Pan-STARRS 1 |
Discovery site | Haleakalā Obs. |
Discovery date | 12 August 2020 |
Designations | |
2020 PP1 | |
P113Iyv [3] | |
Orbital characteristics [4] | |
Epoch 1 July 2021 (JD 2459396.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 1 | |
Observation arc | 3.94 yr (1,438 days) |
Earliest precovery date | 24 August 2017 |
Aphelion | 1.075 AU |
Perihelion | 0.9278 AU |
1.001 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.07356 |
3.99 yr | |
87.711° | |
0° 59m 0.667s / day | |
Inclination | 5.8636° |
140.603° | |
2 April 2021 19:40 UT [4] | |
43.210° | |
Earth MOID | 0.03257 AU |
TJupiter | 6.066 |
Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 10–30 m (assumed albedo 0.04–0.20) [5] |
20.4 (at discovery) [1] | |
26.7 [4] ·26.6 [2] | |
2020 PP1 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, that is a temporary quasi-satellite of the Earth. There are over a dozen known Earth quasi-satellites, some of which switch periodically between the quasi-satellite and horseshoe co-orbital states. [6]
2020 PP1 was discovered on 12 August 2020 by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey at the Haleakalā Observatory. [1] It was later recovered by the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory in August 2021, which allowed for precovery in earlier Pan-STARRS observations from 24 July 2017. [7]
2020 PP1 is currently an Apollo asteroid (Earth-crossing but with a period longer than a year). Its semi-major axis (currently 1.001715 AU) is similar to that of Earth (0.999789 AU), but it has both low eccentricity (0.07384) and low orbital inclination (5.827°). It alternates between being an Aten asteroid and being an Apollo asteroid, although its orbital evolution is not fully stable and it can be considered as a temporary quasi-satellite of the Earth; its orbital evolution is akin to that of 469219 Kamoʻoalewa. [6]
With an absolute magnitude of 26.6, it has a diameter in the range 10–30 meters (for an assumed albedo range of 0.20–0.04 respectively). [5]
A quasi-satellite is an object in a specific type of co-orbital configuration with a planet where the object stays close to that planet over many orbital periods.
In celestial mechanics, a horseshoe orbit is a type of co-orbital motion of a small orbiting body relative to a larger orbiting body. The osculating (instantaneous) orbital period of the smaller body remains very near that of the larger body, and if its orbit is a little more eccentric than that of the larger body, during every period it appears to trace an ellipse around a point on the larger object's orbit. However, the loop is not closed but drifts forward or backward so that the point it circles will appear to move smoothly along the larger body's orbit over a long period of time. When the object approaches the larger body closely at either end of its trajectory, its apparent direction changes. Over an entire cycle the center traces the outline of a horseshoe, with the larger body between the 'horns'.
1685 Toro is an asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group on an eccentric orbit. It was discovered on 17 July 1948, by American astronomer Carl Wirtanen at Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, California. The stony S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 10.2 hours and measures approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It is named for Betulia Toro Herrick, wife of astronomer Samuel Herrick.
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(322756) 2001 CK32 is a sub-kilometer asteroid and near-Earth object of the Aten group. It is also a transient Venus co-orbital, and a Mercury grazer as well as an Earth crosser. It was once designated as a potentially hazardous asteroid.
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2015 XX169 (also written 2015 XX169) is an Apollo asteroid that is a temporary horseshoe companion to the Earth, the tenth known Earth horseshoe librator. A close encounter with the Earth on 14 December 2015 caused the value of the semi-major axis of 2015 XX169 to drift slowly upwards, and the object evolved from an Aten asteroid to an Apollo asteroid about a year after this close approach.
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469219 Kamoʻoalewa, provisionally designated 2016 HO3, is a very small asteroid, fast rotator and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 40–100 meters (130–330 feet) in diameter. At present it is a quasi-satellite of Earth, and currently the second-smallest, closest, and most stable known such quasi-satellite (after 2023 FW13). The asteroid was discovered by Pan-STARRS at Haleakala Observatory on 27 April 2016. It was named Kamoʻoalewa, a Hawaiian word that refers to an oscillating celestial object. The Earth-like orbit and lunar-like silicates may be a result of it being lunar ejecta.
2017 FZ2 (also written 2017 FZ2) is a micro-asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group that was a quasi-satellite of the Earth until March 23, 2017.
A temporary satellite is an object which has been captured by the gravitational field of a planet and thus has become the planet's natural satellite, but, unlike irregular moons of the larger outer planets of the Solar System, will eventually either leave its orbit around the planet or collide with the planet. The only observed examples are 2006 RH120, a temporary satellite of Earth for twelve months from July 2006 to July 2007, and 2020 CD3, which was discovered in 2020. Some defunct space probes or rockets have also been observed on temporary satellite orbits.
2017 SN16, is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 90 meters (300 feet) in diameter. The object was first observed on 24 September 2017, by cometary discoverer Alex Gibbs with the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, in the United States. It forms an asteroid pair with 2018 RY7 and is currently trapped in a 3:5 mean motion resonance with Venus.
2020 VT1 is a small asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Amor group, that is a temporary horseshoe companion to Mars.
2020 PN1 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Aten group, that is a temporary horseshoe companion to the Earth. There are dozens of known Earth horseshoe librators, some of which switch periodically between the quasi-satellite and the horseshoe co-orbital states.