Discovery date 10 June 2012 Minor planet category Amor
NEO Absolute magnitude 19.9 Asteroid group Amor asteroid | MPC designation 2012 LZ1 Discovered 10 June 2012 Discoverer Robert H. McNaught | |
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Discovered by Robert H. McNaught, Siding Spring Survey (E12)
0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt Aphelion 4.0667 AU (608.37 Gm) (Q) Perihelion 1.0492 AU (156.96 Gm) (q) Similar (33342) 1998 WT24, (308635) 2005 YU55, (410777) 2009 FD, 2007 TU24, (285263) 1998 QE2 | ||
Asteroid 2012 lz1 close approach with earth 14 june 2012
2012 LZ1 is an Amor near-Earth asteroid about 1 km (0.62 mi) in diameter that passed within 5.4 million kilometers (14 lunar distances) of Earth on June 14, 2012. It was discovered during the night of June 10–11, 2012 by astronomer Robert H. McNaught and his colleagues at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia, just four days before its closest approach to Earth. Because of 2012 LZ1's size and proximity it is classified as a "potentially hazardous" near-Earth asteroid.
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Asteroid 2012 lz1 timelapse 6 15 12
Overview
Arecibo radar observations on June 19, 2012 have shown that 2012 LZ1 is about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) in diameter and that 2012 LZ1 has zero chance of impacting the Earth for at least the next 750 years.
A small change of trajectory caused by Earth's gravity was predicted from the 2012 passby. The Slooh Space Camera streamed live footage of the passby over the Internet. McNaught and Astronomy magazine columnist Bob Berman hosted the broadcast. "We love it when stuff like this happens, because it's fun to do and the public appreciates it," said Slooh president Patrick Paolucci. The asteroid was the same brightness as a 13th-magnitude star, too faint to be seen by the naked eye or a low-end telescope.
The next passby for 2012 LZ1 was July 27, 2016 at 0.5 AU (75,000,000 km; 46,000,000 mi) from Earth.