Discovery date February 27, 2009 Eccentricity 0.204913 Discovered 27 February 2009 Argument of perihelion 13.91345° Asteroid group Apollo asteroid | Minor planet category Apollo NEO Orbital period 1.38 yr (504.91 d) Inclination 13.74426° Mean anomaly 338.8474° Spectral type S-type asteroid | |
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Aphelion 1.495206 AU (223.6796 Gm) Semi-major axis 1.240924 AU (185.6396 Gm) Similar Solar System, 2004 FH, 2010 AL30, 2008 TC3, 2004 XP14 | ||
Asteroid 2009 dd45
2009 DD45 is a small Apollo asteroid that passed near Earth at an altitude of 63,500 km (39,500 mi) on 2 March 2009 at 13:44 UTC. It was discovered by Australian astronomers at the Siding Spring Observatory on 27 February 2009, only three days before its closest approach to the Earth. Its estimated diameter is between 15 and 23 metres. This is about the same size as a hypothetical object that could have caused the Tunguska event in 1908.
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BBC News Online cites the minimum distance as 72,000 km (45,000 mi) (about 1/5 lunar distances). 2009 DD45 passed farther away (40 thousand miles versus 4 thousand miles) but was substantially larger than 2004 FU162, a small asteroid about 6 m (20 ft) across which came within about 6,500 km (4,000 mi) in 2004, and is more similar in size to 2004 FH. With an uncertainty parameter of 3, the asteroid is predicted to make its next close encounters with Earth on 2056-Feb-29 and 2067-Mar-03.