is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly in diameter. It was discovered on 29 August 2006 when the asteroid was about from Earth and had a solar elongation of 150 degrees.
Recovery The asteroid was recovered on 11 August 2019 by the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope, extending the observation arc from 10 days to 12 years. will make a closest approach to Earth on 19 December 2032 at a distance of . The August 2019 orbit solution passed about further from Earth than the 2006 orbit solution.2019/2006 orbit comparison (Tony Dunn, 11 August 2019) It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 11 August 2019.
Possible Earth impact has a low 1.07° orbital inclination with respect to the Ecliptic plane and an Earth-MOID of only 10200 km. Where Earth will be on a given date was known, but given the relatively old and short observation arc (10 days in 2006) it could not be predicted accurately where the asteroid will be on its orbit. Based on the available data, the Sentry Risk Table showed an estimated 1 in 9100 chance of the asteroid impacting Earth on 9 September 2019. The nominal JPL Horizons 9 September 2019 Earth distance was with a 3-sigma uncertainty of . NEODyS also listed the nominal 9 September 2019 Earth distance as . The European Space Agency listed the odds of impact at a comparable 1 in 7300 on 9 September 2019.
A Monte Carlo simulation using Solex 12 with 1000 clones of the asteroid showed that the asteroid's possible positions overlap Earth.Solex clones (Peter Thomas, 16 March 2019) The line of variation (LOV) passed over Antarctica and the southern tip of Argentina.Path of risk (Risk Corridor) (Peter Thomas, 15 July 2019)
Impact ruled While the position of the asteroid was too uncertain as of July 2019 to recover it, it was known where it would be if it were on a collision course. Based on non-observations from 4 to 5 July 2019, the impact was ruled out on 16 July 2019, using the Very Large Telescope in Chile.ESA confirms asteroid will miss Earth in 2019 (European Space Agency, 16 July 2019) The detection (or lack thereof) of asteroids by this method may be useful for ruling out other potential collisions.
The asteroid came to opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on 28 July 2019 at an apparent magnitude of ~22.
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References
External links SETI Talk with Franck Marchis and Michael Busch