Discovered by Spacewatch Discovery date 18 January 1991 Minor planet category Apollo Discovered 18 January 1991 | Discovery site University of Arizona MPC designation 1991 BA Observation arc 1 day Asteroid group Apollo asteroid | |
Similar Solar System, 4581 Asclepius, 69230 Hermes, 2004 FH, 1991 VG | ||
1991 BA is an asteroid that was discovered by Spacewatch on January 18, 1991 and passed within 160,000 km (100,000 mi) of Earth. This is a little less than half the distance to the Moon. 1991 BA is approximately 5 to 10 meters (15 to 30 ft) in diameter and is listed on the Sentry Risk Table. It follows a highly eccentric (0.68), low-inclination (2.0°) orbit of 3.3 years duration, ranging between 0.71 and 3.7 AU from the Sun. 1991 BA was, at the time of its discovery, the smallest and closest confirmed asteroid outside of Earth's atmosphere. 1991 BA is too faint to be observed except during close approaches to Earth and is considered lost.
Virtual clones of the asteroid that fit the uncertainty region in the known trajectory show a 1 in 1,961,000 chance that the asteroid will impact Earth on 2023 January 18. It is estimated that an impact would produce an upper atmosphere air burst equivalent to 19 kt TNT, roughly equal to Nagasaki's Fat Man. The asteroid would appear as a bright fireball and fragment in the air burst into smaller pieces that would hit the ground at terminal velocity producing a meteorite strewn field. Impacts of objects this size are estimated to occur approximately once a year. Asteroid 2008 TC3 was an object of similar size that was discovered less than a day before its impact on Earth on October 7, 2008 and produced a fireball and meteorite strewn field in the Sudan.