 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovery date | January 10, 2010 |
| Designations | |
| none | |
| Apollo NEO[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 2 | |
| Aphelion | 1.3688 AU (204.77 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 0.72437 AU (108.364 Gm) |
| 1.0466 AU (156.57 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.30787 |
| 1.07 yr (391.07 d) | |
Average orbital speed | 28.5 |
| 156.409° | |
| 0° 55m 13.944s /day | |
| Inclination | 3.8300° |
| 112.376° | |
| 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)[2] |
| 0.14660 h (0.006108 d) | |
| ? | |
| 27.2 | |
2010 AL30 is a near-Earth asteroid that was discovered on 10 January 2010 at Grove Creek Observatory, Australia.[1][3]
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.[4] However, it was determined that it is a near-Earth asteroid.[5]
On January 13, 2010 at 1246 UT it passed Earth at 0.0008624 AU (129,010 km; 80,170 mi),[1] 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.[6]
It has an uncertainty parameter of 2 and has been observed by radar.[1] Radar observations show the asteroid is elongated and is about 30 meters in diameter.[2] It may be a contact binary.
- ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
echowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ 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.