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4015 Wilson–Harrington is an active asteroid known both as comet 107P/Wilson–Harrington and as asteroid 4015 Wilson–Harrington. It passed 0.4 AU (60 million km) from Earth on 20 July 2022 and then passed perihelion on 24 August 2022. It seldom gets brighter than apparent magnitude 16. It will return to perihelion on 25 November 2026.
623 Chimaera is a minor planet, specifically an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt.
2006 QH181 (provisional designation 2006 QH181) is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) in the scattered disc.
2006 RH120 is a tiny near-Earth asteroid and fast rotator with a diameter of approximately 2–3 meters that ordinarily orbits the Sun but makes close approaches to the Earth–Moon system around every twenty years, when it can temporarily enter Earth orbit through temporary satellite capture (TSC). Most recently, it was in Earth orbit from July 2006 to July 2007, during which time it was never more than 0.0116 AU (1.74 million km) from Earth. As a consequence of its temporary orbit around the Earth, it is currently the second smallest asteroid in the Solar System with a well-known orbit, after 2021 GM1. Until given a minor planet designation on 18 February 2008, the object was known as 6R10DB9, an internal identification number assigned by the Catalina Sky Survey.
2010 RF12 is a very small asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Apollo group, that passed between Earth and the Moon on 8 September 2010, at 21:12 UTC, approaching Earth within 79,000 kilometres (49,000 mi) above Antarctica. The asteroid was discovered by the Mount Lemmon Survey near Tucson, Arizona on 5 September 2010 along with 2010 RX30. Based on a short 7-day observation arc from that apparation, it was listed for 12 years on the Sentry Risk Table as the asteroid with the greatest known probability (5%) of impacting Earth. 2010 RF12 was rediscovered 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.
(153814) 2001 WN5 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group.
(471240) 2011 BT15, provisional designation 2011 BT15, is a stony, sub-kilometer sized asteroid and fast rotator, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It had been one of the objects with the highest impact threat on the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale.
2012 KP24 (also written 2012 KP24) is a Chelyabinsk-sized near-Earth asteroid with an observation arc of only 5 days and has a modestly determined orbit for an object of its size. Around 31 May 2023 ±3 days it will pass between 0.19–24 lunar distances (73,000–9,200,000 km) from Earth. Nominally the asteroid is expected to pass 0.026 AU (3,900,000 km; 10 LD) from Earth and brighten to around apparent magnitude 21.6.
(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.
2011 XC2 (also written 2011 XC2) is a near-Earth asteroid roughly 60–140 meters (200–460 ft) in diameter that passed less than 1 lunar distance from Earth on 3 December 2011.
2014 RC is a sub-kilometer near-Earth object and Apollo asteroid. The exceptionally fast rotator passed within 0.000267 AU (39,900 km; 24,800 mi) (0.1 lunar distances) of Earth on 7 September 2014. The asteroid is approximately the diameter of the Chelyabinsk meteor, and passed almost as close to Earth as 367943 Duende (2012 DA14) did in 2013.
2015 KG163, also known as o5m52, is a trans-Neptunian object from the outermost region of the Solar System, approximately 102 kilometers (63 miles) in diameter. It was first observed on 24 May 2015, by astronomers of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey using the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii, United States. With an observation arc of 2 years, it passed perihelion around August 2022 at a velocity of 6.5 km/s with respect to the Sun.
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.
2005 ED224 is an asteroid with an estimated diameter of 54 meters. It had the soonest virtual impactor of an asteroid larger than 50 meters in diameter with a better than 1:1,000,000 chance of impacting Earth. On 11 March 2023, the line of variations (LOV) showed a 1-in-500,000 chance of impact. It has a short observation arc of 3 days. On 11 March 2023, it was nominally expected to be 2.7 AU (400 million km) from Earth but had an uncertainty region billions of kilometers long. Since it has not been observed since 2005 and has an orbital period of 2.6±0.3 years, it is unknown where on its orbit 2005 ED224 is. Between 2005 and 2023, it could have orbited the Sun 6.2 to 7.8 times. On 11 March 2030, it has a 1-in-6,300,000 chance of impact but is expected to be 3.5 AU (520 million km) from Earth (near the asteroid's farthest distance from the Sun). On 10 March 2064, it has a 1-in-2,600,000 chance of impact but is expected to be 3.2 AU (480 million km) from Earth.
2022 AE1 is a Tunguska event-sized asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter. It was discovered by the Mount Lemmon Survey on 6 January 2022, when it was 0.09 AU (13 million km) from Earth. On 9 January 2022 with an observation arc of 3 days, it was rated with a Torino scale of 1 for a virtual impactor on 4 July 2023 16:28 UTC. Nominal approach is expected to occur 1 July 2023 01:13 ± 1 day. With a Palermo scale rating of as high as –0.66 at the European Space Agency on 11 January 2022, the odds of impact peaked at about 4.6 times less than the background hazard level. NEODyS was the first risk-page to drop to Torino scale 0 on 12 January 2022 followed by ESA on 13 January 2022, but by January 14 both returned to Torino scale 1. On 14 January 2022 the waxing gibbous moon was as little as 3 degrees from the asteroid delaying observations of the asteroid from January 12–19. On 20 January 2022 with a 16-day observation arc, using JPL #11 the Sentry Risk Table dropped the asteroid to Torino scale 0 and then later that day JPL #12 resulted in it being removed from the risk table.
2022 NX1 is a near-Earth object roughly 10 meters (33 ft) in diameter discovered by Grzegorz Duszanowicz and Jordi Camarasa. The object orbits the Sun but makes slow close approaches to the Earth–Moon system. Between 11 June 2022 and 3 July 2022 (a period of 22 days) it passed within Earth's Hill sphere (roughly 0.01 AU (1.5 million km; 0.93 million mi)) at a low relative velocity and became temporarily captured by Earth's gravity, with a geocentric orbital eccentricity of less than 1 and negative geocentric orbital energy. Due to its Earth-like orbit, the object might be of artificial origin or lunar ejecta. However, visible spectroscopy obtained with the Gran Telescopio Canarias shows that it is an asteroid. The closest approach to Earth in 2022 was 26 June 2022 at roughly 812,200 km (504,700 mi) when it had a relative velocity of 0.96 km/s (2,100 mph). It was last near Earth around 16 January 1981 when it passed about 600,000 km (370,000 mi) from Earth. It will return as a temporary satellite in December 2051.
2021 RR205 is an extreme trans-Neptunian object discovered by astronomers Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, and Chad Trujillo with the Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory on 5 September 2021. It resides beyond the outer extent of the Kuiper belt on a distant and highly eccentric orbit detached from Neptune's gravitational influence, with a large perihelion distance of 55.5 astronomical units (AU). Its large orbital semi-major axis (~1,000 AU) suggests it is potentially from the inner Oort cloud. 2021 RR205 and 2013 SY99 both lie in the 50–75 AU perihelion gap that separates the detached objects from the more distant sednoids; dynamical studies indicate that such objects in the inner edge this gap weakly experience "diffusion", or inward orbital migration due to minuscule perturbations by Neptune. While Sheppard considers 2021 RR205 a sednoid, researchers Yukun Huang and Brett Gladman do not.
2022 RM4 is categorized as a potentially hazardous asteroid because it is around 400 meters in diameter and makes close approaches to Earth. It was discovered on 12 September 2022 when it was 0.61 AU (91 million km) from Earth and located at declination +65 near the northern circumpolar star Zeta Draconis.
2023 GQ2 is an asteroid roughly 400 meters in diameter, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous object of the Apollo group. It was first discovered on 12 April 2023, when it was 1.3 AU (190 million km) from Earth, with the Bok Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. On 19 April 2023, with an observation arc of 6.7 days, it was rated 1 on the Torino scale for a virtual impactor on 16 November 2028 at 00:58 UTC. When it had a Palermo scale rating of –0.70, the odds of impact were about 5 times less than the background hazard level and this gave the asteroid one of the highest Palermo scale ratings ever issued. On 20 April 2023 precovery images from May 2019 were announced extending the observation arc to 3.9 years, and the 2028 virtual impactor was removed from the Sentry Risk Table. It is now known the nominal approach will safely occur about 13 hours after the impact scenario on 16 November 2028 13:36 ± 40 minutes.
2020 MK53 is a trans-Neptunian object in the scattered disc, around 550 kilometres (340 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 22 June 2020 by the New Horizons KBO Search-Subaru survey using the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope of the Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii, and announced on 7 April 2023 (MPS 1836391, MPO 735634). It was 160 astronomical units from the Sun when it was discovered, making it the farthest known Solar System object from the Sun as of September 2023, well ahead of 2018 VG18 (124 AU) and 2018 AG37 (~132 AU). Given its very short data-arc the only reliable information is in its range (156±4 AU) and range-rate (−0.04 km/s), which suggests that it is close to its aphelion.
References
- ↑ "JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris for 592 Bathseba at epoch JD 2456751.5". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System . Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 19 July 2023. Solution using the Solar System Barycenter. Ephemeris Type: Elements and Center: @0)
- ↑ "Study of multiple asteroid flyby missions". NASA . NASA Technical Reports Server . Retrieved 19 July 2023. Page 5-13
