is an asteroid and near-Earth object approximately in diameter. As a member of the Aten group almost all of its orbit is closer to the Sun than Earth is. On 24 November 1994 it passed about from the Moon. First imaged at Kitami Observatory on 26 November 1994, it was discovered two nights later by American astronomer Carolyn S. Shoemaker at Palomar Observatory on 28 November 1994. The asteroid then went unobserved from 1994 until it was recovered by Mauna Kea in March 2016. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 2 April 2016.

+Close approaches Date JPL SBDBnominal geocentricdistance uncertaintyregion(3-sigma)2021-11-29 ± 34 km2046-11-25 ± 4133 km2190-11-23 ± 815 million km

Description

orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.5–1.1 AU once every 8 months (240 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.40 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic.

It has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of , which translates into 0.7 lunar distances. On 25 November 2046, it will pass from Earth with an uncertainty of ±4133 km. While listed on the Sentry Risk Table the range for the 2046 close approach distance varied from to from Earth.

While listed on the Sentry Risk Table, virtual clones of the asteroid that fit the uncertainty in the known trajectory showed 116 potential impacts between 2054 and 2109. It had about a cumulative 1 in 9090 chance of impacting the Earth. The formerly poorly known trajectory of this asteroid was further complicated by close approaches to Venus and Mercury. It was recovered by Mauna Kea in March 2016, which extended the observation arc from 34 days to 21 years.

It is estimated that an impact would produce the equivalent of 77 megatons of TNT, roughly 1.5 times that of most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated (Tsar Bomba).

It has a unique characteristic: it is coplanar with Mercury, it can be a fragment thrown away by an asteroid impact on Mercury, its very little MOID with the Earth can produce a meteor shower on Earth and if the meteoroids were large enough even Mercurian meteorites.

See also Lost asteroids

References (J94W12R)

(last observation: 1994-12-31; arc: 35 days; Uncertainty: 8)

External links List Of Aten Minor Planets (by designation), Minor Planet Center