(52768) 1998 OR2

(52768) 1998 OR2
1998 OR2 Arecibo.png
Radar image of 1998 OR2 taken by the Arecibo Observatory on 18 April 2020
Discovery
Discovered byNEAT
Discovery siteHaleakala Obs.
Discovery date24 July 1998
Designations
(52768) 1998 OR2
1998 OR2
Amor · NEO · PHA
Orbital characteristics
52768 1998 OR2 orbit 20 April 2020 (cropped).jpg
Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc32.68 yr (11,936 days)
Earliest precovery date30 June 1987 (Siding Spring Obs.)
Aphelion3.7509 AU
Perihelion1.0179 AU
(just outside Earth's orbit)
2.3844 AU
Eccentricity0.57308
3.68 yr (1,344 days)
12.101°
0° 16m 6.6s / day
Inclination5.8658°
27.015°
174.56°
Earth MOID0.0154 AU (6.0 LD)
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
2.06 km (calculated)
4.112±0.002 h
3.198±0.006 h (dated)
0.20 (assumed)
L · S (assumed)
15.7 · 15.7±0.1 · 15.8 · 15.9 · 16.15±0.10

(52768) 1998 OR2 (provisional designation 1998 OR2) is an asteroid on an eccentric orbit, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Amor group, with a diameter of 2 kilometers (1.2 mi). It was discovered on 24 July 1998, by astronomers of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program at the Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii. It is one of the brightest and therefore largest potentially hazardous asteroids known to exist. With an observation arc of 32 years, the asteroid has a well-determined orbit, and its trajectory is well known through the year 2197. The asteroid's orbit is only potentially hazardous on a time scale of thousands of years.

Orbit and classification

Time lapse of asteroid 1998 OR2's motion in the sky on 9 April 2020
Orbit diagram of 1998 OR2
Arecibo radar images of 1998 OR2 taken over a two-hour period in April 2020
Animation of 1998 OR2 close approach in 2020

1998 OR2 is a member of the dynamical Amor group of near-Earth asteroids, and therefore does not currently cross Earth's orbit. The asteroid's closest approach to the Sun is just outside Earth's farthest distance from the Sun. When the asteroid has a perihelion point less than 1.017 AU (Earth's aphelion), it is classified an Apollo asteroid. This asteroid's category flips back and forth as time passes, due to minor perturbations of its orbit.

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.0–3.7 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,344 days; semi-major axis of 2.38 AU). Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.57 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. With its sufficiently large aphelion, this asteroid is also classified as a Mars-crosser, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.66 AU.

The body's observation arc begins with a precovery published by the Digitized Sky Survey taken at the Siding Spring Observatory in June 1986, more than 12 years prior to its official discovery observation at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii.

Close approaches

With an absolute magnitude of approximately 15.8, 1998 OR2 is one of the brightest and presumably largest-known potentially hazardous asteroids (see PHA-list). It currently has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of 0.0154 AU (2,300,000 km), which translates into 6.0 lunar distances (LD). On 16 April 2079, this asteroid will make a near-Earth encounter at a safe distance of 0.0118 AU (4.59 LD), and pass the Moon at 0.0092 AU (3.6 LD). The asteroid's orbit is only potentially hazardous on a time scale of hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

On 29 April 2020 at 09:56 UTC, the asteroid passed at a distance of 0.042 AU (6.3 million km; 16 LD) from Earth. With observations as recent as April 2020 and a 32-year observation arc, the 2020 close approach distance was known with an accuracy of roughly ±6 km. (For comparison, Venus will be 0.29 AU or 43 million km or 110 LD from Earth on 3 June 2020.)

History of close approaches of large near-Earth objects since 1908 (A)
PHA Date Approach distance (lunar dist.) Abs.
mag

(H)
Diameter (C)
(m)
Ref (D)
Nomi-
nal(B)
Mini-
mum
Maxi-
mum
(33342) 1998 WT24 1908-12-16 3.542 3.537 3.547 17.9 556–1795 data
(458732) 2011 MD5 1918-09-17 0.911 0.909 0.913 17.9 556–1795 data
(7482) 1994 PC1 1933-01-17 2.927 2.927 2.928 16.8 749–1357 data
69230 Hermes 1937-10-30 1.926 1.926 1.927 17.5 668–2158 data
69230 Hermes 1942-04-26 1.651 1.651 1.651 17.5 668–2158 data
(137108) 1999 AN10 1946-08-07 2.432 2.429 2.435 17.9 556–1795 data
(33342) 1998 WT24 1956-12-16 3.523 3.523 3.523 17.9 556–1795 data
(163243) 2002 FB3 1961-04-12 4.903 4.900 4.906 16.4 1669–1695 data
(192642) 1999 RD32 1969-08-27 3.627 3.625 3.630 16.3 1161–3750 data
(143651) 2003 QO104 1981-05-18 2.761 2.760 2.761 16.0 1333–4306 data
2017 CH1 1992-06-05 4.691 3.391 6.037 17.9 556–1795 data
(170086) 2002 XR14 1995-06-24 4.259 4.259 4.260 18.0 531–1714 data
(33342) 1998 WT24 2001-12-16 4.859 4.859 4.859 17.9 556–1795 data
4179 Toutatis 2004-09-29 4.031 4.031 4.031 15.3 2440–2450 data
2014 JO25 2017-04-19 4.573 4.573 4.573 17.8 582–1879 data
(137108) 1999 AN10 2027-08-07 1.014 1.010 1.019 17.9 556–1795 data
(35396) 1997 XF11 2028-10-26 2.417 2.417 2.418 16.9 881–2845 data
(154276) 2002 SY50 2071-10-30 3.415 3.412 3.418 17.6 714–1406 data
(164121) 2003 YT1 2073-04-29 4.409 4.409 4.409 16.2 1167–2267 data
(385343) 2002 LV 2076-08-04 4.184 4.183 4.185 16.6 1011–3266 data
(52768) 1998 OR2 2079-04-16 4.611 4.611 4.612 15.8 1462–4721 data
(33342) 1998 WT24 2099-12-18 4.919 4.919 4.919 17.9 556–1795 data
(85182) 1991 AQ 2130-01-27 4.140 4.139 4.141 17.1 1100 data
314082 Dryope 2186-07-16 3.709 2.996 4.786 17.5 668–2158 data
(137126) 1999 CF9 2192-08-21 4.970 4.967 4.973 18.0 531–1714 data
(290772) 2005 VC 2198-05-05 1.951 1.791 2.134 17.6 638–2061 data
(A) List includes near-Earth approaches of less than 5 lunar distances (LD) of objects with H brighter than 18.
(B) Nominal geocentric distance from the Earth's center to the object's center (Earth radius≈0.017 LD).
(C) Diameter: estimated, theoretical mean-diameter based on H and albedo range between X and Y.
(D) Reference: data source from the JPL SBDB, with AU converted into LD (1 AU≈390 LD)
(E) Color codes:  unobserved at close approach  observed during close approach  upcoming approaches

Physical characteristics

Animation of radar images showing 1998 OR2's rotation

According to observations by the NASA IRTF telescope during the ExploreNEOs Warm Spitzer program, 1998 OR2 is a rather rare L-type asteroid. Delay-Doppler radar observations by the Arecibo Observatory in April 2020 have shown that 1998 OR2 bears a large, crater-like concavity in its shape. These radar observations have also resolved several other topographic features on the asteroid's surface, such as hills and ridges.

Rotation period

In 2009, rotational lightcurves of 1998 OR2 were obtained from photometric observations by astronomers in Salvador, Brazil, and during the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Asteroid Photometric Survey (NEAPS). Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.198 and 4.112 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.29 and 0.16 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2+). The latter rotation period of 4.1 hours was later confirmed by radar observations of the asteroid in 2020.

Diameter and albedo

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 2.15 km (1.34 mi) based on an absolute magnitude of 15.7. It is the first near-earth asteroid to show evidence of shock darkening: the slow darkening of the surface over time, from micrometeorites and solar wind.

Naming

As of 2020, this minor planet has not been named.


This page was last updated at 2023-01-16 02:31 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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