2003 YN107
|
|
| Discovery A (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html) | |
|---|---|
| Discoverer | LINEAR |
| Discovery date | December 20, 2003 |
| Alternate designations | B (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPDes.html) |
| Category | Aten |
| Orbital elements C (http://asteroid.lowell.edu/) Epoch October 22, 2004 (JD 2453300.5) | |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.021 |
| Semi-major axis (a) | 149.212 Gm (0.997 AU) |
| Perihelion (q) | 146.125 Gm (0.977 AU) |
| Aphelion (Q) | 152.300 Gm (1.018 AU) |
| Orbital period (P) | 363.846 d (1.00 a) |
| Mean orbital speed | 29.82 km/s |
| Inclination (i) | 4.267° |
| Longitude of the ascending node (Ω) | 268.204° |
| Argument of perihelion (ω) | 102.736° |
| Mean anomaly (M) | 19.396° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 0.010–0.030 km |
| Mass | ~1–28×106 kg |
| Density | 2? g/cm³ |
| Surface gravity | ~3–8×10-6 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | ~5–16×10-6 km/s |
| Rotation period | ? d |
| Spectral class | ? |
| Absolute magnitude | 26.21 |
| Albedo | 0.10? |
| Mean surface temperature | ~279 K |
2003 YN107 (also written 2003 YN107) is a very small near-earth object. It was discovered by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) system in orbit around the Sun on December 20, 2003. Its diameter is only of approximately 10 to 30 meters, which technically makes it a meteoroid rather than an asteroid (which are arbitrarily considered to have diametres of 50 m or bigger). 2003 YN107 is on NASA's Earth Close Approach list, and is estimated to miss the Earth by 0.0599 AU.
It revolves around the sun on an earth-like, almost circular orbit. Its orbital period of 363.846 days also is very close to the Sidereal year. Its most remarkable property is that it keeps a distance of less than 0.1 AU (15 million km) in the time from 1996 to 2006 and that it slowly orbits the earth during one year. However, 2003 YN107 is no second moon, as it is not bound to the earth. It is the first discovered member of a postulated group of coorbital objects, or quasi-satellites, which show these path characteristics.
Before 1996, the asteroid has been on a so-called horseshoe orbit around the sun, along the Earth's orbit. Also after 2006, it will regain such an orbit. In that, it is very similar to the object 2002 AA29. Apparently, this kind of orbit changes are common for coorbital objects. Also 2002 AA29 will become a quasi-satellite of the earth in approx. 600 years.
External links
- NASA's Near-Earth Object close approach tables (http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/close.html)
- NEODyS' information on 2003 YN107 (http://newton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/neodys/neoibo?objects:2003YN107;main)de:2003 YN107