(66063) 1998 RO1

(66063) 1998 RO1

Orbit of (66063) 1998 RO1
Discovery[1][2]
Discovered by LINEAR
Discovery site Socorro
Discovery date September 14, 1998
Designations
1999 SN5
Aten asteroid[1]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch November 4, 2013
Aphelion 1.7045 AU (254.99 Gm)
Perihelion 0.2774 AU (41.50 Gm)
0.9909 AU (148.24 Gm)
Eccentricity 0.7201
360.29 days
30.141°
Inclination 22.676°
351.88°
151.11°
Known satellites 1
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 700 m (2,300 ft) (assumed)[3]
Mass 5.976×109 mt[4]
Mean density
 2.8±1.3 g/cm³[5]
0.0624 mm/s2[4]
0.0999 mm/s[4]
2.4924 hours[1]
Albedo 0.2 (assumed)[2]
Temperature 202-500 K (-71-227°C)[4]
18.1[1]

    (66063) 1998 RO1 is an Aten asteroid with a very eccentric orbit that was discovered September 14, 1998 by the LINEAR program.[1][2] It is known to have a moon, S/2001 (66063) 1.

    Interaction with Earth

    1998 RO1's orbit is very eccentric, with an aphelion beyond the orbit of Mars and a perihelion inside the orbit of Mercury.[2] It has an orbital period of 360.29 days (0.99 years) and makes close approaches to Earth.[1] But 1998 RO1 makes closer approaches to other inner planets, especially Mars. Its closest approach to a planet between 1950–2200 was to Mars, as it passed 0.00898 AU (1,343,000 km) from Mars on March 19, 1964, and will pass 0.0054 AU (810,000 km) from Mars on October 12, 2065.[1]

    Moon

    S/2001 (66063) 1 orbits 1998 RO1 in a manner very similar to this. The red cross is the center of mass.

    1998 RO1 has one moon, S/2001 (66063) 1.[2] This moon was discovered from lightcurve observations going from September 13–28, 2013, and was confirmed by radar observations from the Arecibo Observatory one year later.[2][6] It is in a very close orbit to 1998 RO1, with a semi-major axis of 800 m (2,600 ft) and an eccentricity of 0.06,[2][5] giving it a periapsis of 752 m (2,467 ft) and an apoapsis of 848 m (2,782 ft). S/2001 (66063) 1 takes 14.54 hours to complete one orbit around 1998 RO1.[5] From the surface of 1998 RO1, S/2001 (66063) 1 would have an apparent diameter of roughly 41°.[lower-alpha 1] For comparison, the Sun appears to be 0.5° from Earth.

    Notes

    1. ↑ Calculated by solving \scriptstyle{\mathrm{tan}\left(\frac{\theta}{2}\right) = \frac{\mathrm{radius~of~moon}}{\mathrm{distance~from~surface~of~asteroid~to~center~of~moon}}}.

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "66063 (1998) RO1". JPL Small-Body Database. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. SPK-ID: 2066063.
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Johnston, Robert (March 29, 2009). "(66063) 1998 RO1". Johnston Archive. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
    3. ↑ Used absolute magnitude and albedo values for Bruton, Dan. "Conversion of Absolute Magnitude to Diameter for Minor Planets". Stephen F. Austin State University. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Used mean density/albedo value for "Exoplanets Calculator". Planetary Habitability Laboratory. University of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Modeling of Lightcurves of Binary Asteroids". Icarus 200 (2): 531–547. April 2009. Bibcode:2009Icar..200..531S. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2008.12.001.
    6. ↑ Benner, Lance (November 28, 2013). "BINARY AND TERNARY NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS DETECTED BY RADAR". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 30 December 2013.