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2010 GA6

Near-Earth micro-asteroid


Near-Earth micro-asteroid

FieldValue
minorplanetyes
name
background#FFC2E0
image2010GA6 in April 8 2010.jpg
caption, captured by Purple Mountain Observatory in 8 April 2010
discovery_ref
discovererCSS
discovery_siteMount Lemmon Obs.
discovered5 April 2010
mpc_name
mp_categoryNEOApollo
Mars-crosser
orbit_ref
epoch21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
uncertainty6
observation_arc4 days
aphelion3.6846 AU
perihelion0.9271 AU
semimajor2.3059 AU
eccentricity0.5979
period3.50 yr (1,279 days)
mean_anomaly155.48°
mean_motion/ day
inclination9.7549°
asc_node197.62°
arg_peri34.323°
moid0.0061 AU (2.4 LD)
mean_diameter22 m
(est. at 0.20)
(est. at 0.057)
abs_magnitude25.926.0

Mars-crosser (est. at 0.20) (est. at 0.057)

**** is a micro-asteroid on an eccentric orbit, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group. It was first observed on 5 April 2010, by astronomers of the Catalina Sky Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, United States, four days before a close approach to Earth at 1.1 lunar distances on 9 April 2010. It has not been observed since.

Orbit and classification

is an Apollo asteroid. Apollo's cross the orbit of Earth and are the largest group of near-Earth objects with nearly 10 thousand known members. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 0.93–3.68 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,279 days; semi-major axis of 2.31 AU). Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.60 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic. With an aphelion of 3.68 AU, it is also a Mars-crossing asteroid, as it crosses the orbit of the Red Planet at 1.666 AU.

Close approach

With a 1-day observation arc, had a 1 in 6 million chance of impacting Earth in 2074. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 8 April 2010. The asteroid has now a minimum orbital intersection distance with Earth of 0.00607 AU, which corresponds to 2.4 lunar distances, and is notably larger than the nominal distance of its 2010-flyby.

2010 flyby

On 9 April 2010, 02:07 UT, the asteroid passed Earth at a nominal distance of 0.0029 AU or 1.1 lunar distances. A stony asteroid 22 meters in diameter can be expected to create an air burst with the equivalent of 300 kilotons of TNT at an altitude of 21 km. Generally only asteroids larger than 35 meters across pose a threat to a town or city. There are no projection of future close approaches to Earth available.

Physical characteristics

According to NASA astronomers, measures approximately 22 m in diameter. Based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion, the asteroid measures between 19 and 36 meters in diameter, for an absolute magnitude of 22.6, and an assumed albedo between 0.057 and 0.20, which represent typical values for carbonaceous and stony asteroids, respectively.

Numbering and naming

This minor planet has neither been numbered nor named.

References

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020602101400/http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/removed.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-06-02

|name-list-style=amp

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This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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