2010 TD54 is a tiny asteroid and fast rotator, classified as near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 5 meters in diameter. It was first observed by the Mount Lemmon Survey in October 2010, when the asteroid crossed through the Earth-moon system and had a close encounter with Earth.[4]
![]() Orbital diagram of 2010 TD54 during its near-Earth encounter on 12 Oct 2010 | |
Discovery[1] | |
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Discovered by | Mount Lemmon Srvy. |
Discovery site | Mount Lemmon Obs. |
Discovery date | 9 October 2010 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | 2010 TD54 |
Minor planet category | NEO · Apollo[1][2] |
Orbital characteristics[1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 6 | |
Observation arc | 3 days |
Aphelion | 3.2396 AU |
Perihelion | 0.7020 AU |
Semi-major axis | 1.9708 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.6438 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 2.77 yr (1,011 days) |
Mean anomaly | 159.97° |
Mean motion | 0° 21m 22.32s / day |
Inclination | 4.3045° |
Longitude of ascending node | 18.607° |
Argument of perihelion | 76.068° |
Earth MOID | 0.000178 AU 0.0693 LD |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 5 m[3] 5–10 m[4] |
Synodic rotation period | 0.01167 h (dated)[5] 0.0229317 h[3][lower-alpha 1] |
Geometric albedo | 0.20 (assumed)[3] |
Spectral type | Srv[6] |
Absolute magnitude (H) | 28.9[1] |
2010 TD54 orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.7–3.2 AU once every 2 years and 9 months (1,011 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.64 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
The body's observation arc begins with its first observations by the Mount Lemmon Survey and only spans over a period of 3 days until 12 October 2010. It has been observed since then.[2]
2010 TD54 made its closest approach at 10:51, 12 October 2010 UTC (6:51 EDT a.m.) at 0.000346 AU (51,800 km; 32,200 mi). It is one of the closest known approaches of an asteroid to Earth, at which time the object appeared at a magnitude of 14. It was first observed by of the Catalina Sky Survey's telescopes north of Tucson, Arizona on 9 October 2010.[4]
It has an Earth minimum orbit intersection distance of 0.000178086 AU (26,600 km; 16,600 mi), which corresponds to 0.0693 lunar distance.[1] It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 11 October 2010.[7] The asteroid may have passed 0.0009 AU (135,000 km; 83,700 mi) from Earth in October 1979, but the nominal orbit suggests it passed millions of kilometres from Earth in 1979.[1]
2010 TD54 is a stony asteroid, characterized as a Srv subtype.[6]
In November 2010, a rotational lightcurve of 2010 TD54 was obtained from photometric observations, which showed that the asteroid is a fast rotator. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 0.0229317 hours (1 minute and 23 seconds) with a brightness amplitude of 0.92 magnitude (U=3). A high amplitude typically indicates that the body has an irregular, elongated rather than spherical shape.[lower-alpha 1] This result supersedes a previously obtained lightcurve with a shorter period of 0.01167 hours (U=1).[5]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 5 metres (16 feet) based on an absolute magnitude of 28.9.[3] NASA's press release gave an estimated diameter of 5 to 10 meters (16 to 33 feet).[4]
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