(144898) (

provisional designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...

) is a sub-kilometer

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

, classified as

near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun ( perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit a ...

of the

Apollo group Apollo Education Group, Inc. is an American corporation based in the South Phoenix area of Phoenix, Arizona, with an additional corporate office in Chicago, Illinois. It is privately-owned by a consortium of investors including The Vistria Grou ...

once thought to have a low probability of impacting Earth on 4 May 2102. It reached a

Torino Scale The Torino scale is a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects (NEOs) such as asteroids and comets. It is intended as a communication tool for astronomers and the public to assess the seriousness of collision p ...

rating of 2 and a

Palermo scale The Palermo scale or Palermo technical impact hazard scale is a logarithmic scale used by astronomers to rate the potential hazard of impact of a near-Earth object (NEO). It combines two types of data—probability of impact and estimated k ...

rating of −0.25 (an impact hazard of about 56% of the background level). With an

observation arc In observational astronomy, the observation arc (or arc length) of a Solar System body is the time period between its earliest and latest observations, used for tracing the body's path. It is usually given in days or years. The term is mostly use ...

of 17 years it is known that closest Earth approach will occur two days earlier on 2 May 2102 at a distance of about 5.5 million km.

History

was discovered on 7 November 2004, by the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

-funded

LINEAR In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a '' polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x) ...

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 . Being approximately 580 meters in diameter, if were to impact land, it would create an impact crater about 10 kilometres wide and generate an earthquake of magnitude 7.4.

Elevated risk estimate in 2006

From February to May 2006, was listed with a

impact risk value of 2, only the second asteroid in risk-monitoring history to be rated above value 1. With an

of 1511 days, it was estimated to have a 1 in 1320 chance of impacting on 4 May 2102. The Torino rating was lowered to 1 after additional observations on 20 May 2006, and finally dropped to 0 on 17 October 2006.

2008 observations

As of 4 January 2008, the Sentry Risk Table assigned a Torino value of 0 and an impact probability of 1 in 58.8 million for 4 May 2102. This value was far below the background impact rate of objects this size. Further observations allowed it to be removed from the

Sentry Risk Table Sentry is an automated impact prediction system started in 2002 and operated by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It continually monitors the most up-to-date asteroid catalog for possibilities ...

on 14 February 2008. It will pass from the Earth on 1 May 2032, allowing a refinement to the orbit.

Properties

It has a

spectral type In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

of E. This suggests that the asteroid has a high

albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...

and is on the smaller size range for an object with an absolute magnitude of 18.8.

References

External links