NEAT June 2002 Interesting Objects

In June we have discovered 9 NEAs with NEAT: four Apollos including 1>1km and 1 PHA, four Amors including 1>1km, and an Aten that is a PHA. We also discovered a parabolic comet C/2002 L9 (NEAT), a 2-km, high-eccentricity Mars-crossing asteroid, and a 2-km high-inclination Mars-approaching asteroid.



Designat. NEAT name & Image Disc. with NEAT/ Date Vel. (deg/day) Mag. Size in km (miles) Orbit Visual. Comment*
2002 LW RLY120C Palomar 2 June 3.0 18 0.2 (0.1) orbit Apollo-in an Earth-like orbit with semi-major axis = 1.01 AU
2002 LY1 RM9SHJA Palomar 3 June 3.1 18 0.2 (0.1) orbit Aten-PHA
2002 LJ3 RN40AT MSSS 5 Jun 0.5 20 0.9 (0.5) orbit Amor
2002 JC68 RNELXW MSSS 6 Jun 0.7 19 2 (1.2) orbit Mars-crosser discovered with NEAT/Palomar on 11 May 2002
2002 LA6 RNT91I MSSS 7 June 0.4 20 - - Not NEA
2002 LS24 ROGQ85 MSSS 9 June 1.6 20 0.2 (0.1) orbit Amor
2002 LS32 ROUV4WB Palomar 10 June 0.7 18 1.5 (0.9) orbit Apollo-Large, high eccentricity
- RPK32O MSSS 12 Jun 0.6 20 - - Not real or lost
C/2002 L9 (NEAT) RPXNLKC Palomar 13 Jun 0.1 18 - orbit Comet NEAT-IAUC 7931-has a high-inclination parabolic orbit with perihelion beyond Jupiter
- RPXRY5B Palomar 13 Jun 1.3 20 - - Not real or lost
2002 MB RR0067C Palomar 16 Jun 0.7 20 3 (1.8) - Apollo-Large, high eccentricity and inclination-later identified as 1991 LH
2002 MT1 RSRP8HB Palomar 21 Jun 0.6 20 0.3 (0.2) orbit Amor
1999 RH104 RTWS31C Palomar 24 Jun 0.3 19 - - Not NEA
2002 MG3 RUBFUM MSSS 25 Jun 0.5 19 - - Not NEA
2002 MW3 RUBGKY MSSS 25 Jun 0.5 20 - - Not NEA
2002 MT1 RSRP8HB Palomar 21 Jun 0.6 20 0.3 (0.2) orbit Amor
2002 MO3 RVAJ9EB Palomar 28 Jun 0.9 19 2.0 (1.2) orbit Not NEA-Large, high inclination Mars approacher
2002 MP3 RVZ4IZC Palomar 30 Jun 0.4 19 3.5 (2.1) orbit Amor-Large
2002 MS3 RVZW4NB Palomar 30 Jun 1.0 19 1.0 (0.6) orbit Apollo-High eccentricity with an orbit that crosses Jupiter, Mars, and Earth
2002 MT3 RVZWNMB Palomar 30 Jun 1.1 19 0.5 (0.3) orbit Apollo-PHA
Comet LINEAR RQ8MZLC - - - - - - Previously discovered comet detected with NEAT

*Amors, Apollos, and Atens are the three categories of Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Amor asteroids approach the Earth's orbit from the outside, Apollo asteroids cross the Earth's orbit, and Aten asteroids approach the Earth's orbit from the inside. Potentially Hazardous asteroids (PHAs) are larger than ~200 m (0.1 mile) and approach close enough to present a potential hazard but not a current hazard.