 The orbit of2017 VL2 and positions on 1 January 2018 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | ATLAS |
| Discovery site | Mauna Loa Obs. |
| Discovery date | 10 November 2017 |
| Designations | |
| 2017 VL2 | |
| NEO · Apollo[1][2] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 7 | |
| Observation arc | (16 days) |
| Aphelion | 1.5139AU |
| Perihelion | 0.9466 AU |
| 1.2303 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2306 |
| 1.36yr (498 days) | |
| 337.43° | |
| 0° 43m 20.28s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.091° |
| 227.05° | |
| 139.41° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0012 AU (0.5LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 18 m(est. at0.20)[3] 6–32 m(estimate)[4] | |
| 26.079[1] | |
2017 VL2 is a micro-asteroid, classified as anear-Earth object of theApollo group. It was first observed byATLAS atMauna Loa Observatory on 10 November 2017, a day after it passed inside the orbit of Earth.[2][5]
2017 VL2 is anApollo asteroid, the largest subgroup ofnear-Earth objects. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.9–1.5 AU once every 16 months (498 days;semi-major axis of 1.23 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.23 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It is, however, not aMars-crossing asteroid, as itsaphelion of 1.51 AU is less than the orbit of the Red Planet at 1.666 AU.[1]
The object has aminimum orbital intersection distance with Earth of 180,000 km (0.0012 AU), which corresponds to 0.5lunar distances.[1] On 9 November 2017, it came within 0.31lunar distances of the Earth(see diagrams).[5]
2017 VL2 has been estimated to measure between 6 and 32 meters in diameter,[4] comparable to theChelyabinsk meteor, which was also not observed before it hit the atmosphere over Russia in 2013. For an assumedalbedo of 0.20, which is typical for the commonS-type asteroids,2017 VL2's diameter would be likely 18 meters only.[3] The size of asteroid 2017 VL2 has been described as that of a whale.[6][7]
As of 2018, no rotationallightcurve of this asteroid has been obtained from photometric observations. The object'srotation period,pole and shape remain unknown.[1][8]
Thisminor planet has not yet been numbered by theMinor Planet Center and remainsunnamed.[2]
