2014 HQ124
2014 HQ124 radar images (8 June 2014)
|
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | NEOWISE (C51) |
| Discovery date | 23 April 2014 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2014 HQ124 |
Aten  NEO, PHA |
|
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 2 | |
| Aphelion | 1.0713 AU (160.26 Gm) (Q) |
| Perihelion | 0.63032 AU (94.295 Gm) (q) |
| 0.85082 AU (127.281 Gm) (a) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.25916 (e) |
| 0.78 yr (286.7 d) | |
| 248.44° (M) | |
| 1.2559°/day (n) | |
| Inclination | 26.369° (i) |
| 257.57° (Ω) | |
| 144.49° (ω) | |
| Earth MOID | 0.00948416 AU (1,418,810 km) |
| Jupiter MOID | 4.281 AU (640.4 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | ~370 meters (1,210 ft) |
|
Mean radius
|
0.1625 ± 0.035 km |
|
Sidereal rotation period
|
~20 hr |
| 0.35? | |
| 18.9 | |
2014 HQ124 (also written 2014 HQ124) is an Aten near-Earth asteroid roughly 370 meters (1,210 ft) in diameter that passed 3.25 lunar distances (LD) from Earth on 8 June 2014. It was discovered on 23 April 2014 by NEOWISE. It is estimated that an impact event would have had the energy equivalent of 2,000 megatons of TNT and would have created a 5 km (3 mi) impact crater. The news media misleadingly nicknamed it, The Beast.2014 HQ124 previously passed this close to Earth in 1952 and will not again until at least 2307.Radar imaging suggests it may be a contact binary.
On 6 June 2014, the asteroid brightened to about apparent magnitude 13.7 while in the southern constellation of Horologium. Near its closest approach to Earth of 3.25 Lunar distances on 8 June 2014, the asteroid crossed the celestial equator, making it a northern hemisphere object. It however had an elongation of about 20 degrees from the Sun, and was lost in astronomical twilight during the closest approach to Earth. The Goldstone Deep Space Network observed the asteroid later on 8 June 2014, when the asteroid was between 3.6 and 3.8 lunar distances.
...
Wikipedia