(192642) 1999 RD32
A carbonaceous contact binary near-Earth asteroid.
(192642) 1999 RD32 is a large near-Earth asteroid and suspected contact binary of the Apollo group, approximately 5 km in diameter. It was discovered on 8 September 1999 by the LINEAR program at Socorro, New Mexico. The object is classified as potentially hazardous due to its eccentric orbit.
Quick Facts
- Discoverer
- LINEAR
- Discovery site
- Lincoln Lab's ETS
- Discovered
- 8 September 1999
- Inclination
- 6.7914°
- Albedo
- 0.04 (est.–radiometric); 0.20 (assumed–dated)
Facts from the source article.
Description
This asteroid takes about four years and four months to circle the Sun, ranging from 0.6 to 4.7 AU away, with an average distance of 2.64 AU. Its path is highly stretched, with an eccentricity of 0.77, and it is tilted seven degrees relative to the ecliptic. The first known observation was a precovery image from Palomar Observatory in January 1995. On 27 August 1969, it came within 0.0093 AU of Earth, shining at an apparent magnitude of 8.8. Radar measurements from Arecibo in March 2012 indicate a diameter near five kilometers and a very dark albedo of 0.04, though an older estimate assuming a stony composition gives a smaller size of 1.63 kilometers. Two distinct lobes suggest it is either a tight binary or a contact binary. Roughly 10 to 15 percent of near-Earth asteroids larger than 200 meters are thought to be contact binaries.
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