2014 AA
Probable impact location of near-Earth asteroid 2014 AA based on infrasound data from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.
|
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by |
Richard Kowalski Mount Lemmon Survey (G96) |
| Discovery date | 1 January 2014 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2014 AA |
| Apollo, NEO | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 1 January 2014 (JD 2456658.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 9 | |
| Observation arc | ~70 minutes |
| Aphelion | 1.4080 AU (210.63 Gm) (Q) |
| Perihelion | 0.9163 AU (137.08 Gm) (q) |
| 1.1623 AU (173.88 Gm) (a) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2116 (e) |
| 1.25 yr (457.26 d) | |
| 324.1460° (M) | |
| 0° 47m 14.244s / day (n) | |
| Inclination | 1.4156° (i) |
| 101.6086° (Ω) | |
| 52.3393° (ω) | |
| Earth MOID | 4.54412×10−7 AU (67.9791 km) |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.58092 AU (535.698 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | ~3 meters (10 ft) |
| Mass | ~4×104 kg (assumed) |
| 30.9 | |
2014 AA was a small Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 2–4 meters in diameter that struck Earth on 2 January 2014. It was discovered on 1 January 2014 by Richard Kowalski at the Mount Lemmon Survey at an apparent magnitude of 19 using a 1.52-meter (60 in) reflecting telescope at Mount Lemmon Observatory. 2014 AA was only observed over a short observation arc of about 70 minutes, and entered Earth's atmosphere about 21 hours after discovery.
Using a poorly determined orbit, the JPL Small-Body Database listed a 3-sigma solution with impact occurring around 2 January 2014 02:33 UT ± 1 hour and 5 minutes. The Minor Planet Center listed impact as occurring around 2 January 2014 05:00 UT ± 10 hours. Independent calculations by Bill Gray, the Minor Planet Center and Steve Chesley at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have verified that impact was virtually certain.
The impactor would have been roughly the size of 2008 TC3, which exploded above the Nubian Desert in Sudan on 7 October 2008. Calculations by Chesley suggest the impactor fell somewhere on an arc extending from Central America to East Africa, with a best-fit location just off the coast of West Africa. Calculations by Pasquale Tricarico using the nominal orbit show that 2014 AA entered Earth's shadow cone approximately 40 minutes before entering the atmosphere.
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