Discovery date 8 March 2003 Discovered 8 March 2003 | MPC designation (177049) 2003 EE16 Observation arc 4429 days (12.13 yr) Absolute magnitude 19.7 | |
Aphelion 2.2878 AU (342.25 Gm) (Q) Discovery site Kitt Peak National Observatory | ||
(177049) 2003 EE16, provisionally known as 2003 EE16, is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid and potentially hazardous object. It was discovered on 8 March 2003 by LPL/Spacewatch II at an apparent magnitude of 20 using a 1.8-meter (71 in) reflecting telescope. It has an estimated diameter of 320 meters (1,050 ft). The asteroid was listed on Sentry Risk Table with a Torino Scale rating of 1 on 2 April 2003.
Many of the virtual impactors were located near the nominal orbital solution and the asteroid has a low inclination relative to Earth's orbit. Observation by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) 8 meter facilities on 22 May and 19 June 2003 when 2003 EE16 was very dim with an apparent magnitude between 24–25 refined the orbit. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 28 May 2003.
2003 EE16 has the smallest Earth Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of any known potentially hazardous asteroid. The Earth MOID is 0.0000475 AU (7,110 km; 4,420 mi). Asteroids with a smaller Earth MOID are less than ~100 meters in diameter such as 2013 XY8 and 2010 TD54. Earth impactors 2008 TC3 and 2014 AA had small Earth MOID values as they were on their impact approach when discovered.