| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovery site | Bok Telescope @ Kitt Peak National Observatory |
| Discovery date | 12 April 2023 |
| Designations | |
| 2023 GQ2 | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 3 | |
| Observation arc | 3.93 years |
| Earliest precovery date | 13 May 2019 |
| Aphelion | 2.305 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.9837 AU |
| 1.6444 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4017 |
| 2.11 yr (770.17 days) | |
| 106.38° | |
| Inclination | 36.84° |
| 53.83° | |
| 2022-Jul-12 | |
| 349.34° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0012 AU (180 thousand km; 0.47 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions |
|
| 19.8±0.3 mag[3] | |
2023 GQ2 is an asteroid roughly 400 meters in diameter, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous object of the Apollo group. It was first discovered on 12 April 2023, when it was 1.3 AU (190 million km) from Earth, with the Bok Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.[1] On 19 April 2023, with an observation arc of 6.7 days, it was rated 1 on the Torino scale for a virtual impactor on 16 November 2028 at 00:58 UTC.[4] When it had a Palermo scale rating of –0.70,[4] the odds of impact were about 5 times less than the background hazard level and this gave the asteroid one of the highest Palermo scale ratings ever issued. On 20 April 2023 precovery images from May 2019 were announced extending the observation arc to 3.9 years,[1] and the 2028 virtual impactor was removed from the Sentry Risk Table.[2] It is now known the nominal approach will safely occur about 13 hours after the impact scenario on 16 November 2028 13:36 ± 40 minutes.[3]
The asteroid will come to aphelion (farthest distance from the Sun) around 1 August 2023.[5]
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