Astronomy:2019 VL5
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery date | 9 November 2019 |
| Designations | |
| Minor planet category | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 17 October 2024 (JD 2460600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 1827 days (5.00 years) |
| |{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | 1.277788 astronomical unit|AU (191.1544 Gm) |
| |{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | 0.720270 AU (107.7509 Gm) |
| 0.999029 AU (149.4526 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.279030 |
| Orbital period | 0.9986 yr (364.72 d) |
| Mean anomaly | 260.08477° |
| Mean motion | 0.98705°/day |
| Inclination | 1.73671° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 279.28599° |
| 237.69006° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.00700361 AU (1,047,725 km) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean diameter | 30 m |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 25.86[1] |
2019 VL5 is a tiny asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Aten group moving in a 1:1 mean-motion resonance with Earth. Because of that, it is in a co-orbital configuration relative to Earth. 2019 VL5 is currently in a horseshoe orbit: relative to the Sun and Earth, it moves back and forth in a horseshoe shape around Earth's orbit, with Earth in the gap of the horseshoe. According to orbital calculations, the asteroid was an Earth co-orbital for at least 500 years and will stay one for at least another 2,500 years. During this time, it will remain in this horseshoe orbit for at least 800 years, then it will transfer to a quasi-satellite orbit, then back to a horseshoe orbit after a few decades.[2]
China planned to launch an asteroid deflection probe targeting 2019 VL5 in 2025,[3] but later changed the target to 2015 XF261.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "JPL Small-Body Database Lookup: (2019 VL5)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 4 November 2023. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=2019vl5.
- ↑ Yi, Qi; Dong, Qiao (May 2022). "Stability Analysis of Earth Co-orbital Objects". The Astronomical Journal 163 (5): section 211. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac5e2c. Bibcode: 2022AJ....163..211Q.
- ↑ Jones, Andrew (April 11, 2023). "China to target asteroid 2019 VL5 for 2025 planetary defense test". SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/china-to-target-asteroid-2019-vl5-for-2025-planetary-defense-test/.
- ↑ "China targets its first planetary defense test mission" (in en). https://www.planetary.org/articles/china-targets-its-first-planetary-defense-test-mission.
External links
- 2019 VL5 at NeoDyS-2, Near Earth Objects—Dynamic Site
- Ephemeris · Obs prediction · Orbital info · MOID · Proper elements · Obs info · Close · Physical info · NEOCC
- 2019 VL5 at ESA–space situational awareness
- 2019 VL5 at the JPL Small-Body Database
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