is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It was first observed by the LINEAR project on 10 December 2004.
Description
Although initially there were concerns that it might possibly impact Earth later in the 21st century and thus merit special monitoring, further analysis of its orbit has since ruled out any such collision, at least in the foreseeable future.
The size of is not precisely known. Based on optical measurements, the object is between 300 and 800 meters in diameter. Radar observations place a lower bound of about .
's closest pass by Earth was above the west coast of North America at 04:25 UTC on 3 July 2006.
The asteroid's distance from Earth's center of mass at that moment was , or just 1.1 times the Moon's average distance from Earth. It was observed immediately after this close approach by radar from three locations, from Goldstone in the Mojave Desert in the US, from Sicily, and from Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope, Ukraine, as well as optically from other observatories and amateurs.
It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 17 March 2005.
+H < 20 asteroids passing less than 2 LD from EarthAsteroidDateNominal approach distance (LD)Min. distance (LD)Max. distance (LD)Absolute magnitude (H)Size (meters) 1914-12-31 0.606 0.604 0.608 19.4 279–900 1918-09-17 0.911 0.909 0.913 17.9 556–1795 1925-08-30 0.903 0.901 0.905 18.5 443–47769230 Hermes 1937-10-30 1.926 1.926 1.927 17.5 668–215869230 Hermes 1942-04-26 1.651 1.651 1.651 17.5 668–2158 1975-01-31 1.762 1.761 1.762 18.1 507–1637 2002-08-18 1.371 1.371 1.371 19.0 335–1082 2006-07-03 1.125 1.125 1.125 19.3 292–942 2015-10-31 1.266 1.266 1.266 20.0 211–682 2027-08-07 1.014 1.010 1.019 17.9 556–1793 2028-06-26 0.647 0.647 0.647 18.2 921–94399942 Apophis 2029-04-13 0.0981 0.0963 0.1000 19.7 310–340 2072-07-26 1.216 1.215 2.759 18.8 367–1186 2072-10-17 1.875 1.865 1.886 19.6 254–820 2080-08-31 1.655 1.654 1.656 18.5 443–477(416801) 1998 MZ 2116-11-26 1.068 1.068 1.069 19.2 305–986 2140-12-01 0.634 0.631 0.637 19.3 427–593 2172-02-08 1.783 1.775 1.792 18.7 385–1242(290772) 2005 VC 2198-05-05 1.951 1.791 2.134 17.6 638–2061
References
External links NASA's Asteroid Radar Group Asteroid may pose danger to Earth Close pass by space rock Sormano Astronomical Observatory: Minor Body Priority List Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance Closest Approaches to the Earth by Minor Planets