MPC designation 2012 XE133 Perihelion 0.40995 AU (61.328 Gm) Absolute magnitude 23.4 | Discovery date December 12, 2012 Aphelion 1.0360 AU (154.98 Gm) Discovered 12 December 2012 | |
People also search for (322756) 2001 CK32, 2013 ND15, 2002 VE68 | ||
2012 XE133, also written 2012 XE133, is an asteroid that is a temporary co-orbital of Venus.
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Discovery, orbit and physical properties
2012 XE133 was discovered on December 12, 2012 by J. A. Johnson working for the Catalina Sky Survey. As of March 2013, it has been observed 102 times with a data-arc span of 28 days. It is an Aten asteroid and its semi-major axis (0.7230 AU) is very similar to that of Venus but its eccentricity is rather large (0.4332) and its orbital inclination is also significant (6.711°). With an absolute magnitude of 23.4, it has a diameter in the range 62–138 m.
Quasi-satellite dynamical state and orbital evolution
2012 XE133 has been identified as a Venus co-orbital following a transitional path between Venus's Lagrangian points L5 point and L3 point. Besides being a Venus co-orbital, this asteroid is also a Mercury grazer and an Earth crosser. 2012 XE133 exhibits resonant (or near-resonant) behavior with Mercury, Venus and the Earth. Its short-term dynamical evolution is similar to that of two other Venus co-orbitals, 2001 CK32 and 2002 VE68.
Potentially hazardous asteroid
2012 XE133 was included in the Minor Planet Center list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) because it comes to within 0.05 AU of Earth periodically, but it has since been removed. It will approach Earth at 0.0055 AU (and the Moon at 0.0045 AU) on December 30, 2028.