Minor planet category Apollo, NEO Semi-major axis 1.5977 AU (239.01 Gm) Orbital period 2.02 yr (737.60 d) Discovered 28 May 2012 Argument of perihelion 259.13° Absolute magnitude 29 | Aphelion 2.4839 AU (371.59 Gm) Eccentricity 0.55470 Mean motion 0° 29 17.052 /day Inclination 2.1932° Mean anomaly 261.31° Asteroid group Apollo asteroid | |
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Similar Kepler‑80, Kepler‑56, Kappa Andromedae b, 2012 TC4, Gliese 163 c | ||
2012 05 28 space com asteroid 2012 kt42
2012 KT42 is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid discovered by Alex R. Gibbs of the Mt. Lemmon Survey (part of the Catalina Sky Survey) with a 1.5-m reflector + CCD on May 28, 2012.
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May 29 2012 near miss asteroid 2012 kt42 whaaaat
Overview
The asteroid had a close approach to the Earth on May 29, 2012, approaching to only ~8950 miles / ~14,440 km above the planet's surface. This means 2012 KT42 came inside the Clarke Belt of geosynchronous satellites. As of May 28, 2012, the estimated 5 to 10 meter wide asteroid ranked #6 on the top 20 list of closest-approaches to Earth. There was no danger of a collision during the close approach. 2012 KT42 would pass roughly 0.01 AU (1,500,000 km; 930,000 mi) from Venus on 2012 July 8.
It is estimated that an impact would produce an upper atmosphere air burst equivalent to 11 kt TNT, roughly equal to Hiroshima's Little Boy. The asteroid would be vaporized as these small impacts occur approximately once per year. A comparable-sized object caused the Sutter's Mill meteorite in California on 2012 April 22. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 2012 May 30.