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On average the distance between the asteroids is about 965,600 km (600,000 miles), [68] [69] although this varies among asteroid families and smaller undetected asteroids might be even closer. The total mass of the asteroid belt is estimated to be 2.39 × 10 21 kg, which is 3% of the mass of the Moon. [ 2 ]
The Amors have orbits strictly outside Earth's orbit: an Amor asteroid's perihelion distance (q) is greater than Earth's aphelion distance (1.017 AU). Amor asteroids are also near-earth objects so q < 1.3 AU. In summary, 1.017 AU < q < 1.3 AU. (This implies that the asteroid's semi-major axis (a) is also larger than 1.017 AU.)
In gravitationally bound systems, the orbital speed of an astronomical body or object (e.g. planet, moon, artificial satellite, spacecraft, or star) is the speed at which it orbits around either the barycenter (the combined center of mass) or, if one body is much more massive than the other bodies of the system combined, its speed relative to the center of mass of the most massive body.
For comparison, the average distance between the Earth and the moon is about 385,000km (239,000 miles). So far, about 25,000 large asteroids have been discovered as potential “city killers”.
The head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency discusses 2024 YR4, an asteroid with a small chance of striking Earth eight years from now. Key facts about asteroid that could hit Earth ...
The space rock does not remotely pose an existential threat to life on Earth. It measures 130 to 300 feet across , a pebble compared to the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, which is estimated ...
The asteroid's provisional designation as a minor planet, "2024 YR 4", was assigned by the Minor Planet Center when its discovery was announced on 27 December 2024. [2] 2024 indicates the discovery year, the first letter, "Y", indicates that the asteroid was discovered in the second half-month of December (16 to 31 December) of that year, and "R 4" indicates that it was the 117th provisional ...
Being so close to the Sun, at perihelion the asteroid is moving at 106 km/s (240,000 mph). [5] The relativistic perihelion shift of this object is 1.6 times that of Mercury, which is 42.9 arcseconds per century. [8] With an observation arc over 4 years, the orbit quality of 2021 PH 27 is well secured, with an uncertainty parameter of 3. [4]