2002 AA29
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Template:Downsize Template:Minor Planet Asteroid Template:Mp (also written 2002 AA29) is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in January 2002 by the LINEAR asteroid survey. The asteroid follows a "horseshoe orbit" that makes it come near the Earth every 95 years as it follows Earth's orbit around the Sun and will, in nearly 600 years, appear to orbit the planet. It measures about 60 metres across.
Image:Asteroid 2002 AA29.quasi-sattelite orbit.gif
On January 8, 2003, the asteroid came within approximately 5.9 Gm (3.7 million miles) of Earth, its closest approach for almost a century.
Richard Gott and Edward Belbruno from Princeton University have speculated that Template:Mp might have formed together with Earth and Theia, the postulated planet that, according to the Giant Impact theory collided with Earth in its early history.
The orbit of the asteroid is such that it would be relatively easy for a spacecraft to retrieve rock samples from it and bring them to Earth for analysis.
External links
| The minor planetsedit |
| Vulcanoids | Near-Earth asteroids | Main belt | Jupiter Trojans | Centaurs | Damocloids | Comets | Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt · Scattered disc · Oort cloud) |
| For other objects and regions, see: asteroid groups and families, binary asteroids, asteroid moons and the Solar system For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names. |
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