2012 KP24 (also written 2012 KP24) is a Chelyabinsk-sized near-Earth asteroid with an observation arc of only 5 days and has a modestly determined orbit for an object of its size. Around 31 May 2023 ±3 days it will pass between 0.19–24 lunar distances (73,000–9,200,000 km) from Earth. Nominally the asteroid is expected to pass 0.026 AU (3,900,000 km; 10 LD) from Earth and brighten to around apparent magnitude 21.6.
It is a fast rotator that rotates in 0.04 hours (2.4 min). The asteroid is estimated to be 17 meters (56 ft) in diameter. It will next come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) around 4 July 2023. It has an orbital uncertainty parameter of 6.
2012
It was discovered on 23 May 2012 by the Mount Lemmon Survey at an apparent magnitude of 20.8 using a 1.5-meter (59 in) reflecting telescope. On 28 May 2012 at 15:20 UT, the asteroid passed 0.00038 AU (57,000 km; 35,000 mi) from the center-point of Earth. It then reached perihelion on 2 July 2012. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 8 August 2013 after Sentry updated to planetary ephemeris (DE431).
2032
Newer versions of Sentry returned the object to the risk table. Virtual clones of the asteroid that fit the uncertainty region in the known trajectory show a 1 in 2.1 million chance that the asteroid could impact Earth on 2032 May 28. With a Palermo Technical Scale of −6.30, the odds of impact by 2012 KP24 in 2032 are about 2 million times less than the background hazard level of Earth impacts which is defined as the average risk posed by objects of the same size or larger over the years until the date of the potential impact.
References
External links
- 2012 KP24 at NeoDyS-2, Near Earth Objects—Dynamic Site
- Ephemerides · Observation prediction · Orbital info · MOID · Proper elements · Observational info · Close approaches · Physical info · Orbit animation
- 2012 KP24 at ESA–space situational awareness
- Ephemerides · Observations · Orbit · Physical properties · Summary
- 2012 KP24 at the JPL Small-Body Database
