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(90075) 2002 VU94

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(90075) 2002 VU94
Discovery [1]
Discovered byNEAT
Discovery sitePalomar Obs.
Discovery date13 November 2002
Designations
(90075) 2002 VU94
2002 VU94
Apollo · NEO · PHA [1][2]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc62.16 yr (22,704 days)
Aphelion3.3631 AU
Perihelion0.9045 AU
2.1338 AU
Eccentricity0.5761
3.12 yr (1,138 days)
26.512°
0° 18m 58.32s / day
Inclination8.9155°
226.78°
30.617°
Earth MOID0.0301 AU · 11.7 LD
Physical characteristics
Dimensions2.233±0.084 km[3]
2.59 km (calculated)[4]
7.878±0.002 h[5]
7.879±0.002 h[a]
7.88±0.01 h[6]
7.90±0.01 h[7]
0.20 (assumed)[4]
0.294±0.040[3]
S (assumed)[4]
15.2[3] · 15.3[1][4]

(90075) 2002 VU94, provisional designation 2002 VU94, is an asteroid on an eccentric orbit, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 2.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 November 2002, by astronomers of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking program at Palomar Observatory in California, United States.[2] It is one of the largest potentially hazardous asteroids known.[8]

Orbit and classification

2002 VU94 is a member of the dynamical Apollo group,[1][2] which are Earth-crossing asteroids. Apollo asteroids are the largest subgroup of near-Earth objects. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.9–3.4 AU once every 3 years and 1 month (1,138 days; semi-major axis of 2.13 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.58 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]

The body's observation arc begins with a precovery from the Digitized Sky Survey taken at the Palomar Observatory in October 1955, or 47 years prior to its official discovery observation.[2]

Close approaches

With an absolute magnitude of 15.3, 2002 VU94 is one of the brightest and largest known potentially hazardous asteroid (see PHA-list).[8] It has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of 0.0301 AU (4,500,000 km), which translates into 11.7 lunar distances.[1] On 18 May 2092, the body will make its closest near-Earth encounter at a nominal distance of 0.095 AU (37 LD).[1] The asteroid is also Mars-crosser, crossing the orbit of the Red Planet at 1.66 AU.

Physical characteristics

2002 VU94 is an assumed, stony S-type asteroid.[4]

Rotation period

In 2014 and 2017, several rotational lightcurves[b] of 2002 VU94 were obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Brian Warner at the Palmer Divide Station (U82) in California.[5][6][7][a] Lightcurve analysis gave a consolidated rotation period of 7.879 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.31 and 0.64 magnitude (U=3-).[4][a]

In 2017, Warner also modeled the photometric data and determined a sidereal period of 7.878512 hours, as well as a spin axis of (73.0°, −50.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[4]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, 2002 VU94 measures 2.233 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.294,[3] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20, and calculates a diameter of 2.59 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 15.3.[4]

Numbering and naming

This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 30 August 2004.[9] As of 2018, it has not been named.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Warner (2018) web: Observation from 2017-08-12. Rotation period 7.879±0.002 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.64±0.02 mag. Quality Code of 3-. Currently unpublished (not on ADS). Summary figures for (90075) at the LCDB
  2. ^ Four lightcurve plots of (90075) 2002 VU94 by B. D. Warner at CS3 (2014/2017). Plot-1, Plot-2, Plot-3 and Plot-4. Summary figures at the LCDB and CS3 website.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 90075 (2002 VU94)" (2017-12-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "90075 (2002 VU94)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; et al. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 13. arXiv:1509.02522. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814..117N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/117. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "LCDB Data for (90075)". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b Warner, Brian D. (July 2017). "Near-Earth Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2016 December thru 2017 April". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 44 (3): 223–237. Bibcode:2017MPBu...44..223W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  6. ^ a b Warner, Brian D. (January 2015). "Near-Earth Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2014 June-October". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 42 (1): 41–53. Bibcode:2015MPBu...42...41W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b Warner, Brian D. (April 2015). "Near-Earth Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2014 October-December". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 42 (2): 115–127. Bibcode:2015MPBu...42..115W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. ^ a b "List of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  9. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
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