 Goldstone radar collage of asteroid 2010 AL30 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovery date | January 10, 2010 |
| Designations | |
| Alternative designations | none |
| Minor planet category | Apollo NEO |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 2 | |
| Aphelion | 1.3688 AU (204.77 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 0.72437 AU (108.364 Gm) |
| Semi-major axis | 1.0466 AU (156.57 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.30787 |
| Orbital period (sidereal) | 1.07 yr (391.07 d) |
| Average orbital speed | 28.5 |
| Mean anomaly | 156.409° |
| Mean motion | 0° 55 13.944 /day |
| Inclination | 3.8300° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 112.376° |
| Argument of perihelion | 97.711° |
| Earth MOID | 0.000981553 AU (146,838.2 km) |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.59473 AU (537.764 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | ~30 meters (elongated) |
| Synodic rotation period | 0.14660 h (0.006108 d) |
| Spectral type | ? |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 27.2 |
2010 AL30 is a near-Earth asteroid that was discovered on 10 January 2010 at Grove Creek Observatory, Australia.
Italian scientists Ernesto Guido and Giovanni Sostero told RIA Novosti that it had an orbital period of almost exactly one year and might be a spent rocket booster. However, it was determined that it is a near-Earth asteroid.
On January 13, 2010 at 1246 UT it passed Earth at 0.0008624 AU (129,010 km; 80,170 mi), about 1/3 of the distance from the Earth to the Moon (or 0.33 LD).
Based an estimated diameter of 10–15 m (33–49 ft), if 2010 AL30 had entered the Earth's atmosphere, it would have created a meteor air burst equivalent to between 50 kT and 100 kT (kilotons of TNT). The Nagasaki "Fat Man" atom bomb had a yield between 13–18 kT.
It has an uncertainty parameter of 2 and has been observed by radar. Radar observations show the asteroid is elongated and is about 30 meters in diameter. It may be a contact binary.
See also
References
- ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ "First Results of the Goldstone High-Resolution Chirp Radar Imaging System: Application to Near-Earth Asteroid 2010 AL30". NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- Malik, Tariq (12 January 2010). "Weird Object Zooming by Earth Wednesday is Likely an Asteroid". Space.com. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- What was that Mystery object whizzes past Earth, The Times of India, January 14, 2010
- Small Asteroid 2010 AL30 Will Fly Past The Earth. NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program, January 12, 2010.
- Near-Earth Object 2010 AL30. NASA Earth Science Picture of the Day March 06, 2010.
External links
- MPEC 2010-A59 : 2010 AL30 – (Minor Planet Center / 2010 Jan. 11)
- MPEC 2010-A64 : 2010 AL30 – (Minor Planet Center / 2010 Jan. 12)
- Mystery object 2010 AL30 to pass within 130,000 km of Earth (heraldsun.com)
- NEO 2010 AL30 Close Approach – (Remanzacco Observatory / January 11, 2010)
- Goldstone detects "STRONG" radar echoes from 2010 AL30 Archived 18 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine – (Emily Lakdawalla / Jan. 12, 2010)
- First Results of the Goldstone High-Resolution Chirp Radar Imaging System: Application to Near-Earth Asteroid 2010 AL30 – (2011 October 4)
- Weird Object Zooming by Earth Wednesday is Likely an Asteroid, www.space.com, January 2010
- 2010 AL30 at NeoDyS-2, Near Earth Objects—Dynamic Site
- 2010 AL30 at ESA–space situational awareness
- 2010 AL30 at the JPL Small-Body Database
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