2011 EO40

2011 EO40
Discovery[1]
Discovered by Richard A. Kowalski
(Mount Lemmon Survey)
Discovery date March 10, 2011
Designations
MPC designation 2011 EO40
Apollo NEO PHA,[2][3][4]
Earth crosser
Orbital characteristics[3][5]
Epoch June 27, 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
(Uncertainty=6)
Aphelion 2.5481 AU
Perihelion 0.76059 AU
1.6544 AU
Eccentricity 0.54025
2.13 y (777.2 d)
45.2°
Inclination 3.3628°
50.300°
17.081°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 150-330 m[a][6]
21.5[3]

    2011 EO40, also written 2011 EO40, is an Apollo asteroid and a possible candidate for the parent body of the Chelyabinsk superbolide.[7][8][9]

    Discovery, orbit and physical properties

    2011 EO40 was discovered by Richard A. Kowalski on March 10, 2011 while observing for the Mount Lemmon Survey.[1][10]

    Its orbit is typical of Apollo asteroids and is characterized by significant eccentricity (0.54), low inclination (3.36º), and a semi-major axis of 1.65 AU.[10] Upon discovery, it was classified as an Earth crosser, a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) and a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) by the Minor Planet Center. It was listed on the Sentry Risk Table for less than one day.[11] Its orbit is in need of additional observations to determine if it is part of an asteroid family; as of October 2015 the orbit is determined using just twenty observations spanning an observation arc of 34 days.[3] 2011 EO40 has an absolute magnitude of 21.5,[3] which gives a characteristic diameter of about 200 metres (660 ft).[6]

    Parent body of the Chelyabinsk superbolide?

    Recent calculations indicate that this object is a plausible candidate to be the parent body of the Chelyabinsk superbolide, since its orbit is very similar to the computed, pre-impact path of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid.[7][8][9] It has relatively frequent close encounters with Venus, the Earth–Moon system, and Mars. It had a close encounter with Earth on January 28, 2011 at 0.0953 AU (14,260,000 km; 8,860,000 mi),[3] and it will have a nominal Earth approach on September 23, 2025 at around 0.06 AU (9,000,000 km; 5,600,000 mi).[3] Asteroid 2011 EO40 experiences close approaches to the Earth–Moon system following a rather regular pattern, every 17 years approximately due to the combined action of multiple secular resonances.[8]

    Visibility

    Future opposition windows are: June 7, 2016 at magnitude 24.5, and May 28, 2018 at magnitude 24.6. The best observation window will be on September 2–23, 2025.[3] Depending on the Earth approach distance (0.04–0.12 AU),[3] it should be brighter than magnitude 19.[12]

    See also

    Notes

    • ^ This is assuming an albedo of 0.20–0.04.

    References

    1. 1 2 Discovery MPEC
    2. ↑ List Of Apollo Minor Planets
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2011 EO40)
    4. ↑ "List Of The Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)". Minorplanetcenter.net. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
    5. ↑ NEODyS-2 on 2011 EO40 Retrieved 2013-07-31
    6. 1 2 Absolute-magnitude conversion table (H)
    7. 1 2 de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl (21 November 2013). "The Chelyabinsk superbolide: a fragment of asteroid 2011 EO40?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 436 (1): L15–L19. arXiv:1307.7918. Bibcode:2013MNRAS.436L..15D. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slt103.
    8. 1 2 3 de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl (1 September 2014). "Reconstructing the Chelyabinsk event: pre-impact orbital evolution". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 443 (1): L39–L43. arXiv:1405.7202. Bibcode:2014MNRAS.443L..39D. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slu078.
    9. 1 2 de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl; Aarseth, S. J. (10 October 2015). "Chasing the Chelyabinsk asteroid N-body style". The Astrophysical Journal 812 (1): 26 (22 pp). arXiv:1508.05907. Bibcode:2015ApJ...812...26D. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/26.
    10. 1 2 MPC data on 2011 EO40
    11. ↑ "Observations of small Solar-System bodies". hohmanntransfer. 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2013-08-06. (2.7e-07 = 1 in 3,704,000 chance)
    12. ↑ "2011EO40 Ephemerides for 23 August 2025 through 30 September 2025". NEODyS (Near Earth Objects – Dynamic Site). Retrieved 2014-07-04.

    External links

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