Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | C. Kowal |
Discovery site | Palomar Observatory |
Discovery date | 27 December 1975 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | 2102 |
Named after
|
Tantalus |
1975 YA | |
PHA | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 38.63 yr (14111 days) |
Aphelion | 1.675969247626000 AU (250.72143080353 Gm) |
Perihelion | 0.9041343191800040 AU (135.25656897612 Gm) |
1.290051783403 AU (192.9889998898 Gm) | |
Eccentricity | .299148816495564 |
1.47 yr (535.19 d) | |
85.78643003020903° | |
0° 40m 21.563s / day | |
Inclination | 64.00535930263230° |
94.36993941983230° | |
61.55509931046220° | |
Earth MOID | 0.0430913 AU (6.44637 Gm) |
Jupiter MOID | 3.76984 AU (563.960 Gm) |
Jupiter Tisserand parameter | 4.450 |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 2-4 km |
2.384 h (0.0993 d) | |
Sidereal rotation period
|
2.384 h |
Q | |
16.0 | |
2102 Tantalus (1975 YA) is an Apollo asteroid discovered on December 27, 1975 by C. Kowal at Palomar Observatory. It is a Q-type asteroid.
2102 Tantalus is a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) because its minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) is less than 0.05 AU and its diameter is greater than 150 meters. The Earth-MOID is 0.0439 AU (6,570,000 km; 4,080,000 mi). Its orbit is well-determined for the next several hundred years.
It will pass 0.04439 AU (6,641,000 km; 4,126,000 mi) from Earth on 2038-Dec-27, which is just slightly closer than the 1975-Dec-26 approach of 0.046 AU. The asteroid is about 2–4 km in diameter.