2021 AV7

2021 AV7 is a near-Earth asteroid of the Apollo group, discovered by astronomers Alain Maury and G. Attard at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on 15 January 2021. With an estimated diameter of 450–1,000 m (1,480–3,280 ft), it is considered a potentially hazardous asteroid. It has a highly elliptical orbit that brings it within Earth's orbit. Although its nominal orbit has a small minimum orbit intersection distance around 82,000 km (51,000 mi) from Earth's orbital path, the asteroid does not appear to make any close approaches within 0.2 astronomical units (30×10^6 km; 19×10^6 mi) over the next 100 years given its highly uncertain orbit.[5]

2021 AV7
Discovery [1][2]
Discovered byAMACS1 (W94)
Alain Maury
G. Attard
Discovery siteSan Pedro de Atacama
Discovery date15 January 2021 (first observed)
Designations
2021 AV7
P11bC3C [3][4]
NEO · Apollo · PHA [5]
Orbital characteristics [5]
Epoch 17 January 2021 (JD 2459231.5)
Uncertainty parameter 7
Observation arc16 days
Aphelion5.203±0.007 AU
Perihelion0.8973 AU
3.050±0.004 AU
Eccentricity0.70579±0.00038
5.33±0.01 yr
302.425±0.109°
0° 11m 6.158s / day
Inclination29.398±0.009°
153.494±0.006°
7 April 2021 [5]
39.055±0.005°
Earth MOID0.00055 AU (82,000 km)
TJupiter2.651
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
0.47–1.00 km (assumed albedo 0.05–0.25)[6]
20.0 (current)[7]
19.8 (at discovery)[1]
18.76±0.44[5]
18.79[2]

    Discovery

    2021 AV7 was discovered by astronomers Alain Maury and G. Attard at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on 15 January 2021. It was first observed in the constellation Canis Major at an apparent magnitude of 19.8.[1] The asteroid was moving at an on-sky rate of 1.15 arcseconds per minute, located 0.656 AU (98.1 million km; 61.0 million mi) from Earth.[8]

    The asteroid was subsequently listed on the Minor Planet Center's Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) as P11bC3C.[4] Over three days, follow-up observations were carried out by various observatories including Spacewatch (691) at Kitt Peak and the Steward Observatory (I52) at Mount Lemmon. The listing was confirmed and publicly announced as 2021 AV7 on 18 January 2021.[1]

    Orbit and classification
    Orbit diagram of 2021 AV7, Jupiter, and the inner planets viewed from the ecliptic pole

    Having been observed for only 16 days, the orbit of 2021 AV7 is highly uncertain with a condition code of 7.[2] Additional observations over several oppositions are necessary to constrain its orbit over the long-term.

    2021 AV7 orbits the Sun at an average distance of 3.05 AU once every 5.33 years. Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.71 and an inclination of 29° with respect to the ecliptic plane. Over the course of its orbit, its distance from the Sun ranges from 0.90 AU at perihelion to 5.2 AU at aphelion, crossing the orbits of Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.[5] Since its orbit crosses that of Earth's while having a semi-major axis greater than 1 AU, 2021 AV7 is classified as an Apollo asteroid. Although its nominal orbit has a small minimum orbit intersection distance around 82,000 km (51,000 mi) from Earth's orbital path, the asteroid does not appear to make any close approaches within 0.2 astronomical units (30×10^6 km; 19×10^6 mi) over the next 100 years given its highly uncertain orbit.[5]

    Physical characteristics

    Diameter and albedo

    Based on an magnitude-to-diameter conversion and a measured absolute magnitude of 18.76, 2021 AV7 measures between 470 and 1,000 meters in diameter for an assumed geometric albedo of 0.25 and 0.05, respectively.[2][6]

    References
    1. "MPEC 2021-B45 : 2021 AV7". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Minor Planet Center. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    2. "2021 AV7". Minor Planet Center. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    3. "2021 AV7". NEO Exchange. Las Cumbres Observatory. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    4. Gray, Bill (18 January 2021). ""Pseudo-MPEC" for 11E401". Project Pluto. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    5. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2021 AV7" (2021-01-31 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    6. Bruton, Dan. "Conversion of Absolute Magnitude to Diameter for Minor Planets". Department of Physics, Engineering, and Astronomy. Stephen F. Austin State University. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    7. "2021AV7". Near Earth Objects – Dynamic Site. Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    8. "2021AV7 Ephemerides". Near Earth Objects – Dynamic Site (Ephemerides at discovery (obs. code W94)). Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, Italy. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.