(155140) 2005 UD (
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 The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...
2005 UD) is an
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 ...
on an
eccentric
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off- center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (graph theory) of a ...
orbit, classified as a
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 ...
. It was discovered on 22 October 2005, by the
Catalina Sky Survey
Catalina Sky Survey (CSS; obs. code: 703) is an astronomical survey to discover comets and asteroids. It is conducted at the Steward Observatory's Catalina Station, located near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States.
CSS focuses on the searc ...
at the
Catalina Station
Catalina Station (CS), also known as Steward Observatory Catalina Station, is an astronomical observing facility located on Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately northeast of Tucson, Arizona. The site in the Coronado Nati ...
in Arizona, United States. 2005 UD is thought to be a possible fragment of
3200 Phaethon
3200 Phaethon (; previously sometimes spelled Phæton), provisionally designated , is an active Apollo asteroid with an orbit that brings it closer to the Sun than any other named asteroid (though there are numerous unnamed asteroids with sm ...
due to its similar orbit,
although it is not dynamically associated with the
Geminid
The Geminids are a prolific meteor shower with 3200 Phaethon (which is thought to be an Apollo asteroid with a " rock comet" orbit.) being the parent body. Because of this, it would make this shower, along with the Quadrantids, the only maj ...
meteor stream produced by Phaethon.
Due to 2005 UD's highly eccentric orbit, it experiences extreme temperature variations up to at
perihelion
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values.
Apsides perta ...
, leading to
thermal fracturing of its surface
regolith
Regolith () is a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock. It includes dust, broken rocks, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestria ...
and ejection of dust particles.
However, no activity from 2005 UD has been observed as of yet, though it has been suspected that it could be the inactive
parent body
A parent body in meteoritics is the celestial body from which originates a meteorite or a class of meteorites.
Identification
It is easiest to correlate a meteorite with a parent body when the parent body still exists. This is the case for Lun ...
of the Daytime Sextantids
meteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at ext ...
.
2005 UD and Phaethon share a bluish surface color at
visible wavelengths, but differ at
near-infrared
Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those of ...
wavelengths where 2005 UD appears redder than Phaethon.
2005 UD will pass from
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
on 20 July 2024.
See also
*
Active asteroid
Active asteroids are small Solar System bodies that have asteroid-like orbits but show comet-like visual characteristics. That is, they show a coma, tail, or other visual evidence of mass-loss (like a comet), but their orbits remain within Jupite ...
* , a suspected
extinct comet
An extinct comet is a comet that has expelled most of its volatile ice and has little left to form a tail and coma. In a dormant comet, rather than being depleted, any remaining volatile components have been sealed beneath an inactive surface la ...
and proposed parent body of the
Quadrantids
The Quadrantids (QUA) are a meteor shower that peaks in early January and whose radiant lies in the constellation Boötes. The zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of this shower can be as high as that of two other reliably rich meteor showers, the Persei ...
meteor shower
References
External links
Exploring Links Between Nearby Asteroids Susanna Kohler, ''
AAS Nova'', 19 June 2020
*
*
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Apollo asteroids
#
Discoveries by the Catalina Sky Survey
Mercury-crossing asteroids
Venus-crossing asteroids
Earth-crossing asteroids
Mars-crossing asteroids
C-type asteroids (Tholen)
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