2009 VA
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Catalina Sky Survey |
| Discovery date | 6 November 2009 |
| Designations | |
| none | |
| Apollo (NEO) | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 6 November 2009 (JD 2455141.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 9 | |
| Observation arc | 3 hours[2] |
| Aphelion | 1.93 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.9177 AU |
| 1.43 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.357 |
| 1.71 yr | |
| 339° | |
| 0° 34m 39.396s /day | |
| Inclination | 7.5° |
| 224.5° | |
| 224° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.00013 AU (19,000 km) |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.3 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| ~6 meters[2] | |
| 28.6 | |
2009 VA is an asteroid that came within 14,000 kilometres (8,700 mi) of Earth on 6 November 2009 making it the third closest non-impacting approach of a cataloged asteroid.[3]
With a diameter of only 7 metres (23 ft), scientists think that even if it had been on a direct collision course with Earth, it would have likely burned up in the atmosphere.[4] The space rock made its pass by Earth just fifteen hours after its discovery.[5]
The asteroid was first discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona. It was determined that the object would make a pass well within the orbit of the Moon, but would not strike Earth. The object passed so close to Earth that its orbit was modified by Earth's gravity.[5]
2025 virtual impactor
[edit]The asteroid only has a very short observation arc of 3 hours and has not been observed since 2009 (16 years ago).[2] Given the short arc, long term predictions of the asteroids position over many years are poorly constrained. It is listed on the Sentry Risk Table with a 1 in 48,000 chance of an Earth impact on 6 November 2025.[2]
| JPL Horizons nominal geocentric distance (AU) |
uncertainty region (3-sigma) |
|---|---|
| 0.3 AU (45,000,000 km; 120 LD)[6] | ± 900 million km[6] |
See also
[edit]- 2008 TC3
- 2010 RF12, 2010 RX30, 2010 TD54 - a similar-sized asteroids that passed Earth in 2010
- List of notable asteroids#Record-setting close approaches to Earth for other, closer approaches
- List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2009
References
[edit]- ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 VA)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d "(2009 VA) – Earth Impact Risk Summary". Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. NASA. 28 August 2022.
- ^ "Small Asteroid 2009 VA Whizzes By Earth". Science Daily. Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ Small Asteroid Spotted Flying Close To Earth Archived 3 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, redorbit.com, 11 November 2009
- ^ a b Alan Boyle. "Space rock buzzes past Earth". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ a b "Horizons Batch for 2025-11-06 Virtual Impactor". JPL Horizons. Retrieved 7 February 2025. RNG_3sigma = uncertainty range in km. (JPL#7/Soln.date: 2021-Apr-15 generates RNG_3sigma = 934114563 km for 2025-Nov-06.)
External links
[edit]- Small Asteroid 2009 VA Whizzes By The Earth
- 2009 VA at NeoDyS-2, Near Earth Objects—Dynamic Site
- 2009 VA at ESA–space situational awareness
- 2009 VA at the JPL Small-Body Database
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