| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | CSS |
| Discovery site | Catalina Stn. |
| Discovery date | 9 April 2019 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2019 GC6 |
| Minor planet category | NEO · Apollo |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 5 · 4 | |
| Observation arc | 17 days |
| Aphelion | 1.2985 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.9104 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 1.1045 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.1757 |
| Orbital period (sidereal) | 1.16 yr (424 d) |
| Mean anomaly | 317.32° |
| Mean motion | 0° 50 56.76 / day |
| Inclination | 1.2557° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 211.61° |
| Argument of perihelion | 63.845° |
| Earth MOID | 0.0015 AU (0.5844 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean diameter | 15 m (est. at 0.20) 28 m (est. at 0.057) |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 26.5 26.51 |
2019 GC6 is a very small near-Earth asteroid and potentially hazardous object of the Apollo group, approximately 20 meters (70 ft) in diameter. It was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey at Catalina Station on 9 April 2019, a few days before it made its first-observed pass through the cislunar region at a distance of 136,000 miles (219,000 km), comparable to roughly half the average distance from the Earth to the Moon (0.58 LD).
Orbit and classification
2019 GC6 is a member of the Apollo group of asteroids, which are Earth-crossing asteroids. They are the largest group of near-Earth objects with approximately 10,000 known members. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.91–1.29 AU once every 14 months (424 days; semi-major axis of 1.1 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.
The body's observation arc begins with its first observation by the Mount Lemmon Survey on 31 March 2019, just a few days prior to its potential discovery observation by the Catalina Sky Survey.
Physical characteristics
Diameter and albedo
The dimensions of the asteroid are estimated to range between 7.5–30 metres (25–98 ft) and has been compared to size of a house. Based on an magnitude-to-diameter conversion and a measured absolute magnitude of 26.5, 2019 GC6 measures between 15 and 28 meters in diameter for an assumed geometric albedo of 0.20 (siliceous) and 0.057 (carbonaceous), respectively.
References
- ^ "2019 GC6". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2019 GC6)" (2019-04-17 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ "Asteroid Size Estimator". CNEOS NASA/JPL. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Massive asteroid will pass Earth closer than the Moon". The Independent. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ Weitering, Hanneke; Astronomy. "A House-Size Asteroid Zipped by Earth Today". Space.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
External links
- CSS Observer Africano Discovers 2019’s Closest Earth-Grazing Asteroid, Catalina Sky Survey, 17 April 2019
- 2019 GC6 at NeoDyS-2, Near Earth Objects—Dynamic Site
- 2019 GC6 at ESA–space situational awareness
- 2019 GC6 at the JPL Small-Body Database
| Small Solar System bodies | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minor planets |
| ||||||
| Comets | |||||||
| Other | |||||||