Discovered by LINEAR (704) Orbital period 923 days Absolute magnitude 20.2 | Discovery date 5 October 2002 Observation arc 2017 days (5.52 yr) Discovered 5 October 2002 | |
Aphelion 2.8505 AU (426.43 Gm) (Q) Perihelion 0.86543 AU (129.466 Gm) (q) Discoverer Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research Similar (53319) 1999 JM8, 4183 Cuno, 2004 XP14, 2063 Bacchus, 4660 Nereus | ||
(179806) 2002 TD66 (also written 2002 TD66) is a near-Earth asteroid, discovered on October 5, 2002, by the LINEAR project. It was announced on October 7, 2002, and appeared later that day on the JPL current risk page.
Due to the proximity of its orbit to Earth and its estimated size, this object has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In November 2006 there were 823 PHAs known. As of October 2011, there are 1261 PHAs known. 2002 TD66 was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on October 10, 2002. A Doppler observation has helped produce a well known trajectory with a condition code (Uncertainty Parameter U) of 0.
Based on an absolute magnitude (H) of 20.2, the asteroid is estimated to be between 270 and 590 meters in diameter. Radar astronomy shows it is a contact binary asteroid with a diameter of 300 meters and a rotation period of 9.5 hours.
On February 26, 2008, 2002 TD66 passed 0.04282 AU (6,406,000 km; 3,980,000 mi) from Earth. The asteroid also comes close to Venus, Mars, and dwarf planet Ceres.