Discovery date 18 June 2012 Minor planet category Apollo NEO,
PHA Discovered 18 June 2012 Asteroid group Apollo asteroid | MPC designation 2012 MU2 Observation arc 1173 days (3.21 yr) Absolute magnitude 20.8 Discoverer Catalina Sky Survey | |
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Discovered by Catalina Sky Survey (703) Aphelion 3.1116 AU (465.49 Gm) (Q) | ||
2012 MU2 (also written 2012 MU2) is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid and potentially hazardous object. It was discovered on 18 June 2012 by the Catalina Sky Survey at an apparent magnitude of 19.9 using a 0.68-meter (27 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. It has an estimated diameter of 240 meters (790 ft). The asteroid was listed on Sentry Risk Table with a Torino Scale rating of 1 on 23 June 2012.
On 24 June 2012 with an observation arc of 6 days, 2012 MU2 showed a 1 in 7,140 chance of impacting Earth on 1 June 2015. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on the next day (25 June).
With an observation arc of 113 days, the JPL Small-Body Database (solution JPL 42 dated 2013-Aug-05) shows that 2012 MU2 may make a very close approach to asteroid 29 Amphitrite on 8 April 2179. The minimum approach distance is about 0.000032 AU (4,800 km; 3,000 mi), but the maximum distance is 0.14 AU (21,000,000 km; 13,000,000 mi). The nominal approach is 0.047 AU (7,000,000 km; 4,400,000 mi).
The Earth approach in 2015 occurred on 15 May 2015 at a distance of 0.11485 AU (17,181,000 km; 10,676,000 mi).