[meteorite-list] Small Asteroid Is Earth's Constant Companion (2016 HO3)

[Bigjohn Shea]

List,
Hope you are all well.

Does anyone know if we have any data on it's composition?  I have trouble believing we would not have found ANY meteorites from this asteroid after nearly a century of being neighbors.

Cool discovery!
Cheers,

John A. Shea MD
IMCA 3295




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On 6/16/16 at 1:04 AM, Steve Dunklee via Meteorite-list wrote:

> Cool! This asteroid could be our best defence against a larger object. as we could change its orbit to intercept and deflect  a larger one.CheersSteve
> 
>       From: Ron Baalke via Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>  To: Meteorite Mailing List <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> 
>  Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 7:48 PM
>  Subject: [meteorite-list] Small Asteroid Is Earth's Constant Companion (2016 HO3)
>    
> 
> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6537
> 
> Small Asteroid Is Earth's Constant Companion 
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory
> June 15, 2016
> 
> A small asteroid has been discovered in an orbit around the sun that keeps 
> it as a constant companion of Earth, and it will remain so for centuries 
> to come.
> 
> As it orbits the sun, this new asteroid, designated 2016 HO3, appears 
> to circle around Earth as well. It is too distant to be considered a true 
> satellite of our planet, but it is the best and most stable example to 
> date of a near-Earth companion, or "quasi-satellite."
> 
> "Since 2016 HO3 loops around our planet, but never ventures very far away 
> as we both go around the sun, we refer to it as a quasi-satellite of Earth," 
> said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) 
> Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "One 
> other asteroid -- 2003 YN107 -- followed a similar orbital pattern for 
> a while over 10 years ago, but it has since departed our vicinity. This 
> new asteroid is much more locked onto us. Our calculations indicate 2016 
> HO3 has been a stable quasi-satellite of Earth for almost a century, and 
> it will continue to follow this pattern as Earth's companion for centuries 
> to come." 
> 
> In its yearly trek around the sun, asteroid 2016 HO3 spends about half 
> of the time closer to the sun than Earth and passes ahead of our planet, 
> and about half of the time farther away, causing it to fall behind. Its 
> orbit is also tilted a little, causing it to bob up and then down once 
> each year through Earth's orbital plane. In effect, this small asteroid 
> is caught in a game of leap frog with Earth that will last for hundreds 
> of years.
> 
> The asteroid's orbit also undergoes a slow, back-and-forth twist over 
> multiple decades. "The asteroid's loops around Earth drift a little ahead 
> or behind from year to year, but when they drift too far forward or backward, 
> Earth's gravity is just strong enough to reverse the drift and hold onto 
> the asteroid so that it never wanders farther away than about 100 times 
> the distance of the moon," said Chodas. "The same effect also prevents 
> the asteroid from approaching much closer than about 38 times the distance 
> of the moon. In effect, this small asteroid is caught in a little dance 
> with Earth."
> 
> Asteroid 2016 HO3 was first spotted on April 27, 2016, by the Pan-STARRS 
> 1 asteroid survey telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii, operated by the University 
> of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy and funded by NASA's Planetary Defense 
> Coordination Office. The size of this object has not yet been firmly established, 
> but it is likely larger than 120 feet (40 meters) and smaller than 300 
> feet (100 meters).
> 
> The Center for NEO Studies website has a complete list of recent and upcoming 
> close approaches, as well as all other data on the orbits of known NEOs, 
> so scientists and members of the media and public can track information 
> on known objects.
> 
> For asteroid news and updates, follow AsteroidWatch on Twitter:
> 
> http://www.twitter.com/AsteroidWatch
> 
> News Media Contact
> DC Agle
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
> 818-393-9011
> agle at jpl.nasa.gov 
> 
> Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
> NASA Headquarters, Washington
> 202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
> dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo at nasa.gov
> 
> 2016-154 
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