2002 AT4

2002 AT₄

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) Team
Discovery site	Socorro
Discovery date	January 08, 2002
Designations
Minor planet category	amor
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	1805 days (4.94 yr)
Aphelion	2.7006668 AU (404.01400 Gm)
Perihelion	1.03349733 AU (154.609000 Gm)
Semi-major axis	1.8670820 AU (279.31149 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.44646389
Orbital period	2.55 yr (931.84 d)
Mean anomaly	156.73908°
Mean motion	0° 23^m 10.79^s /day
Inclination	1.5005220°
Longitude of ascending node	323.50911°
Argument of perihelion	203.02201°
Earth MOID	0.0422244 AU (6.31668 Gm)
Jupiter MOID	2.28286 AU (341.511 Gm)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	Diameter: 170-380 m
Absolute magnitude (H)	21.2

2002 AT₄ (also written 2002 AT4) is an as yet unnamed and un-numbered near-Earth asteroid. It is approximately 160–370 metres in diameter. It has an eccentric orbit that brings it sometimes close to Earth's orbit, and sometimes halfway between Mars and Jupiter. It is a D-type asteroid^[3] which means that it may be reddish in colour, and it orbits amongst the amor family of asteroids.

Due to its relatively low transfer cost of ~5.5 km/s,^[4] 2002 AT₄ was under consideration by the European Space Agency as a candidate target for the Don Quijote mission to study the effects of impacting a spacecraft into an asteroid; however, it is no longer under consideration.

References

1. "EARN Database: 2002 AT₄".
2. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2002 AT4)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
3. Binzel, Richard P.; et al. (August 2004). "Observed spectral properties of near-Earth objects: results for population distribution, source regions, and space weathering processes" (PDF). Icarus. 170 (2): 259. Bibcode:2004Icar..170..259B. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.04.004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
4. "NEA delta_v for spacecraft rendezvous missions".

External links

• 2002 AT4 at the JPL Small-Body Database
  
  • Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters
• MPEC 2002-A53