| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery site | Lincoln Laboratory ETS |
| Discovery date | 20 September 2003 (first observed only) |
| Designations | |
| 2003 SM84 | |
| NEO · Amor[1][2] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 1 | |
| Observation arc | 12.21yr (4,459 d) |
| Aphelion | 1.2176AU |
| Perihelion | 1.0331 AU |
| 1.1254 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0819 |
| 1.19 yr (436 d) | |
| 97.681° | |
| 0° 49m 32.16s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.7956° |
| 186.68° | |
| 87.374° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0516 AU (20.1022LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 86 m(est. at0.20)[3] 160 m(est. at0.057)[3] | |
| 22.7[2] | |
(612600) 2003 SM84 is a sub-kilometerasteroid, classified asnear-Earth object of theAmor group orbiting betweenEarth andMars. It was first observed by theLincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) at theLincoln Laboratory ETS on 20 September 2003.[1] As of 2020, thisminor planet has neither been nornamed.[1]
2003 SM84 is anAmor asteroid – a subgroup of near-Earth asteroids that approach the orbit of Earth from beyond, but do not cross it. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.0–1.2 AU once every 14 months (436 days;semi-major axis of 1.13 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.08 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with its first observation by LINEAR in 2003.[1]
The object'sspectral type remains unknown.[2] Using a magnitude-to-diameter conversion,2003 SM84 measures 86 and 160 meters in diameter, based on anabsolute magnitude of 22.7 and an assumedalbedo of 0.20 (S-type) and 0.057 (C-type), respectively.[3]2003 SM84 was being considered by theEuropean Space Agency as a candidate target for theDon Quijote mission to study the effects of impacting a spacecraft into an asteroid.[4]
