2010_AL30

<span class="nowrap">2010 AL<sub>30</sub></span>

2010 AL30

Near-Earth asteroid

2010 AL30 is a near-Earth asteroid that was discovered on 10 January 2010 at Grove Creek Observatory, Australia.[1][3]

Quick Facts Discovery, Discovery date ...

Italian scientists Ernesto Guido and Giovanni Sostero told RIA Novosti that it had an orbital period of almost exactly one year and might be a spent rocket booster.[4] However, it was determined that it is a near-Earth asteroid.[5]

On January 13, 2010 at 1246 UT it passed Earth at 0.0008624 AU (129,010 km; 80,170 mi),[1] about 1/3 of the distance from the Earth to the Moon (or 0.33 LD).

Based an estimated diameter of 10–15 m (33–49 ft), if 2010 AL30 had entered the Earth's atmosphere, it would have created a meteor air burst equivalent to between 50 kT and 100 kT (kilotons of TNT). The Nagasaki "Fat Man" atom bomb had a yield between 13–18 kT.[6]

It has an uncertainty parameter of 2 and has been observed by radar.[1] Radar observations show the asteroid is elongated and is about 30 meters in diameter.[2] It may be a contact binary.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  2. [2]
    "First Results of the Goldstone High-Resolution Chirp Radar Imaging System: Application to Near-Earth Asteroid 2010 AL30". NASA/JPL Asteroid Radar Research. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  3. [3]
    Malik, Tariq (12 January 2010). "Weird Object Zooming by Earth Wednesday is Likely an Asteroid". Space.com. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. [4]
    What was that Mystery object whizzes past Earth, The Times of India, January 14, 2010
  5. [5]
    Small Asteroid 2010 AL30 Will Fly Past The Earth. NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program, January 12, 2010.
  6. [6]
    Near-Earth Object 2010 AL30. NASA Earth Science Picture of the Day March 06, 2010.
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