2002 AA29
 |
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery date | January 9, 2002 |
| Designations | |
| none | |
| Aten asteroid | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 736 days (2.02 yr) |
| Aphelion | 1.0055 AU (150.42 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 0.97963 AU (146.551 Gm) |
| 0.99259 AU (148.489 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.013047 |
| 0.99 yr (361.2 d) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
29.784 km/s |
| 310.32° | |
| 0° 59m 48.012s /day | |
| Inclination | 10.748° |
| 106.38° | |
| 101.75° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0116565 AU (1.74379 Gm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.96814 AU (593.625 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | ~0.06 km <100 metres 25±5 metres |
| Mass | ~2.3×108 kg |
|
Mean density
|
2 ? g/cm³ |
|
Equatorial surface gravity
|
~0.000 017 m/s² |
|
Equatorial escape velocity
|
~0.000 032 km/s |
| 0.55 h (0.023 d) | |
| 0.2 ? | |
| Temperature | ~279 K |
| S-type asteroid | |
| 24.1 | |
2002 AA29 (also written 2002 AA29) is a small near-Earth asteroid that was discovered on January 9, 2002 by the LINEAR (Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research) automatic sky survey. The diameter of the asteroid is only about 20–100 metres (70–300 ft). It revolves about the Sun on an almost circular orbit very similar to that of the Earth. This lies for the most part inside the Earth's orbit, which it crosses near the asteroid's furthest point from the Sun, the aphelion. Because of this orbit, the asteroid is classified as Aten type, named after the asteroid (2062) Aten.
A further characteristic is that its mean orbital period about the Sun is exactly one sidereal year. This means that it is locked into a relationship with the Earth, since such an orbit is only stable under particular conditions. As yet only a few asteroids of this sort are known, locked into a 1:1 resonance with the Earth. The first was (3753) Cruithne, discovered in 1986.
Asteroids that have a 1:1 orbital resonance with a planet are also called co-orbital objects, because they follow the orbit of the planet. The most numerous known co-orbital asteroids are the so-called trojans, which occupy the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points of the relevant planet. However, 2002 AA29 does not belong to these. Instead, it follows a so-called horseshoe orbit along the path of the Earth.
Shortly after the discovery by LINEAR, Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Athabasca University (Canada), the Queen’s University in Kingston (Ontario, Canada), the York University in Toronto and the Tuorla Observatory of the University of Turku in Finland determined the unusual orbit of 2002 AA29, and through further observations at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii it was confirmed that:
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