[meteorite-list] New Retrograde Asteroid Found

[Meteorites USA]

A new asteroid was found April 29th orbiting the sun backwards. 
Calculating the orbit of the new asteroid is difficult because 
observational errors could cause a mis-projected orbit. This asteroid 
was close enough

Observational Data: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/mpec/K09/K09J04.html

Article:

Nearby asteroid found orbiting sun backwards

23:50 01 May 2009 by Jeff Hecht
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The discovery of a 2- to 3-kilometre-wide asteroid in an orbit that goes 
backwards has set astronomers scratching their heads. It comes closer to 
Earth than any other object in a 'retrograde' orbit, and astronomers 
think they should have spotted it before.

The object, called 2009 HC82, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey 
in Arizona on the morning of 29 April.

 From observations of its position by five different groups, Sonia Keys 
of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center calculated 
it orbits the sun every 3.39 years on a path that ventures within 3.5 
million km of the Earth's orbit. Combined with its size, that makes 2009 
HC82 a potentially hazardous asteroid.

What's really unusual is that the calculated orbit is inclined 155° to 
the plane of the Earth's orbit. That means that as it orbits the Sun, it 
actually travels backwards compared to the planets. It is only the 20th 
asteroid known in a retrograde orbit, a very rare group. None of the 
others comes as close to the Earth.

SOURCE:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17073-nearby-asteroid-found-orbiting-sun-backwards.html


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Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA
904-236-5394