Discovery
2003 YN107 is a very small Near-Earth object. It was discovered by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) system in orbit around the Sun on December 20, 2003.
Stats
Diameter: 0.01 - 0.03 km
Semi-major axis: 0.997 AU (almost same as Earth)
Rotation: not known
Minor planet category: Aten asteroid
Orbit
2003 YN107 revolves around the Sun on an Earth-like, almost circular, orbit. Its orbital period of 363.846 days also is very close to the Sidereal year. Its most remarkable properties are that it has kept a distance of less than 0.1 AU in the time from 1996 to 2006 and that it slowly orbits the Earth during one year.
Before 1996, the asteroid had been on a so-called horseshoe orbit around the sun, along the Earth's orbit. After 2006, it had regained such an orbit.
However, 2003 YN107 won't be gone forever. In about 60 years it will lap Earth again, resuming its role as a temporary, quasi-satellite of Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment