(469219) 2016 HO3

(469219) 2016 HO3

Orbit simulated
Discovery
Discovery date 27 April 2016
Designations
Apollo
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5)
Observation arc 4468 days (12.23 yr)
Aphelion 1.105500933206085 AU (165.38058566449 Gm)
Perihelion 0.8969589366101743 AU (134.18314702221 Gm)
1.00122993490813 AU (149.78186634335 Gm)
Eccentricity 0.1041429092983748
1.00 yr (365.930968800407 d)
297.5321059137383°
0° 59m 1.652s /day
Inclination 7.771395617649736°
66.5132579816248°
307.227651638961°
Earth MOID 0.0345404 AU (5.16717 Gm)
Jupiter MOID 4.06316 AU (607.840 Gm)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 40–100 m (130–330 ft)
24.183

    (469219) 2016 HO3 (also written (469219) 2016 HO3) is an asteroid, discovered on 27 April 2016, that is possibly the most stable quasi-satellite of Earth.[2][3]

    Description

    As it orbits the Sun, (469219) 2016 HO3 appears to circle around Earth as well. The object is beyond the Hill sphere of Earth and the Sun exerts a much stronger pull on it than Earth does. Although it is too distant to be considered a true natural satellite of Earth, it is the best and most stable example to date of a near-Earth companion, or quasi-satellite.[3]

    "Since 2016 HO3 loops around our planet, but never ventures very far away as we both go around the sun, we refer to it as a quasi-satellite of Earth", said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

    "One other asteroid – 2003 YN107 – followed a similar orbital pattern for a while over 10 years ago, but it has since departed our vicinity. This new asteroid is much more locked onto us. Our calculations indicate 2016 HO3 has been a stable quasi-satellite of Earth for almost a century, and it will continue to follow this pattern as Earth's companion for centuries to come."

    In its yearly trek around the sun, asteroid 2016 HO3 spends about half of the time closer to the Sun than Earth is (that is, the asteroid is inside the Earth's orbit) and passes ahead of our planet, and about half of the time farther away (crosses outside Earth's orbit), causing it to fall behind. Its orbit is also tilted a little, causing it to bob up and then down once each year through Earth's orbital plane. In effect, this small asteroid is caught in a game of leap frog with Earth that will last for hundreds of years.

    The asteroid's orbit also undergoes a slow, back-and-forth twist over multiple decades. "The asteroid's loops around Earth drift a little ahead or behind from year to year, but when they drift too far forward or backward, Earth's gravity is just strong enough to reverse the drift and hold onto the asteroid so that it never wanders farther away than about 100 times the distance of the moon", said Chodas. "The same effect also prevents the asteroid from approaching much closer than about 38 times the distance of the moon. In effect, this small asteroid is caught in a little dance with Earth."

    Asteroid 2016 HO3 was first spotted on April 27, 2016, by the Pan-STARRS 1 asteroid survey telescope on Haleakalā, Hawaii, operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy and funded by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office. The size of this object has not yet been firmly established, but it is likely about 40–100 m (130–330 ft).[2]

    See also

    References

     This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

    1. ↑ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 469219 (2016 HO3)". Retrieved 26 June 2016.
    2. 1 2 Agle, DC; Brown, Dwayne; Cantillo, Laurie (15 June 2016). "Small Asteroid Is Earth's Constant Companion". JPL. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
    3. 1 2 de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl (2016). "Asteroid (469219) 2016 HO3, the smallest and closest Earth quasi-satellite". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 462 (4): 3441–3456. Bibcode:2016MNRAS.462.3441D. arXiv:1608.01518 Freely accessible. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw1972.
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