(144898) 2004 VD17

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(144898) 2004 VD₁₇

Discovery and designation
Discovered by	LINEAR
Discovery date	November 7, 2004
Designations
Minor planet category	Apollo asteroid, Earth-crosser asteroid Venus-crosser asteroid Mars-crosser asteroid
Orbital characteristics
Epoch September 21, 2006
Aphelion	358.422 Gm (2.3959 AU)
Perihelion	92.8 Gm (0.6204 AU)
Semi-major axis	225.610 Gm (1.50815 AU)
Eccentricity	0.588654
Orbital period	676.499 d (1.85 a)
Mean anomaly	33.427°
Inclination	4.223°
Longitude of ascending node	224.241°
Argument of perihelion	90.687°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	0.5-1.1 km
Mass	0.13-1.8×1012 kg
Mean density	2.0? g/cm³
Equatorial escape velocity	0.0003–0.0006 km/s
Geometric albedo	0.15
Surface temp.    Kelvin	min mean max ~227 K
Absolute magnitude	18.90

(144898) 2004 VD₁₇ (previously known by its provisional designation 2004 VD₁₇) is a near-Earth asteroid once thought to have a low but significant probability of impacting Earth in 2102. From February to May 2006 it was listed with a Torino Scale impact risk value of 2, only the second asteroid in risk monitoring history to be rated above value 1. The Torino rating was lowered to 1 after additional observations on May 20, 2006 and finally dropped to 0 on October 17, 2006.

As of the observation on December 17, 2006, JPL assigns 2004 VD₁₇ a Torino value of 0 and an impact probability of 1 in 41.667 million in the next 100 years. This value is far below the background impact rate of objects this size.

2004 VD₁₇ was discovered on November 7, 2004 by the NASA-funded LINEAR asteroid survey. The object is estimated by NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office to be 580 meters in diameter with an approximate mass of 2.6×10¹¹ kg.

According to NeoDys (which compiles data from the IAU's Minor Planet Center), the Palermo Scale rating is currently −3.52 for the 2102 encounter, and −8.09 and −6.81 for encounters in 2103 and 2104 respectively. The ratings are based on 961 optical observations dating from February 16, 2002. JPL's Sentry System has returned similar results with a Palermo Scale rating of −4.91 for the 2102 encounter, based on 908 optical observations also dating from February 16, 2002. This continues a trend of decreasing Palermo rating with continuing observations.

[edit] See also

• List of noteworthy asteroids
• Asteroid deflection strategies
• Asteroid naming conventions

[edit] External links

• 2004 VD₁₇ NEODys Object Summary
• 2004 VD₁₇ object data
• New Scientist: New asteroid at top of Earth-threat list

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