Discovery date 2010-12-05 Minor planet category Aten, NEO,
PHA Discovered 5 December 2010 Absolute magnitude 21.4 Discoverer Catalina Sky Survey | MPC designation 2010 XC15 Observation arc 1893 days (5.18 yr) Earth moid 0.2 cm Asteroid group Aten asteroid | |
Discovered by Catalina Sky Survey (703)
0.68-m Schmidt Aphelion 1.0413 AU (155.78 Gm) (Q) Similar Solar System, (153814) 2001 WN5, (33342) 1998 WT24, (410777) 2009 FD, (308635) 2005 YU55 | ||
2010 XC15 (also written 2010 XC15) is an Aten near-Earth asteroid and potentially hazardous object. It has an observation arc of 2 years and an Uncertainty Parameter of 2. It was discovered on 5 December 2010 by the Catalina Sky Survey at an apparent magnitude of 17.5 using a 0.68-metre (27 in) Schmidt.
Based on an absolute magnitude of 21.4, the asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 200 metres (660 ft). 2010 XC15 is noted for a close approach to Earth on 27 December 1976 at a distance of about 0.0062 AU (930,000 km; 580,000 mi). As of November 2011 with an observation arc of 40 days, the JPL Small-Body Database showed that the uncertainty region of the asteroid during the 1976 close approach could result in a pass anywhere from 0.001 AU to 0.018 AU from Earth. During the 1976 close approach the asteroid reached about apparent magnitude 14.
The asteroid will pass 0.0051 AU (760,000 km; 470,000 mi) from Earth on 27 December 2022, allowing a refinement to the known trajectory. The uncertainty region as of 2013 suggests that the asteroid may have passed inside the orbit of the Moon in 1907, but the nominal solution suggests the pass was about 0.007 AU (1,000,000 km; 650,000 mi).
The asteroid 2002 JE9, with a much larger observation arc, is known to have passed 0.0015 AU (220,000 km; 140,000 mi) from Earth on 11 April 1971.