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2021 AV7
2021 AV7 is a near-Earth asteroid of the Apollo group, discovered by astronomers Alain Maury and G. Attard at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on 15 January 2021. With an estimated diameter of 440–1,000 m (1,440–3,280 ft), it is considered a potentially hazardous asteroid. It has a highly elliptical orbit that brings it within Earth's orbit. However, its nominal orbit has a minimum orbit intersection distance around 2.6×106 km (1.6×106 mi) from Earth's orbital path, and the closest approach the asteroid is expected to make over the next two centuries is to within 0.140 astronomical units (20.9×106 km; 13.0×106 mi) on 28 February 2096.[4] Discovery2021 AV7 was discovered by astronomers Alain Maury and G. Attard at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile on 15 January 2021. It was first observed in the constellation Canis Major at an apparent magnitude of 19.8.[1] The asteroid was moving at an on-sky rate of 1.15 arcseconds per minute, from a distance of 0.656 AU (98.1 million km; 61.0 million mi) from Earth.[7] The asteroid was subsequently listed on the Minor Planet Center's Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) as 11E401.[3] Over three days, follow-up observations were carried out by various observatories including Spacewatch (691) at Kitt Peak and the Steward Observatory (I52) at Mount Lemmon. The listing was confirmed and publicly announced as 2021 AV7 on 18 January 2021.[1] Orbit and classification With a long observation arc spanning over five years, the orbit of 2021 AV7 is well-secured with a condition code of 0.[4] The earliest known precovery observations of 2021 AV7 are from Pan-STARRS 1 on 9 July 2016. These precovery observations were published by the Minor Planet Center on 30 April 2021.[8] 2021 AV7 orbits the Sun at an average distance of 3.07 AU once every 5.38 years. Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.7 and an inclination of 28° with respect to the ecliptic plane. Over the course of its orbit, its distance from the Sun ranges from 0.91 AU at perihelion to 5.2 AU at aphelion, crossing the orbits of Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.[4] Since its orbit crosses that of Earth's while having a semi-major axis greater than 1 AU, 2021 AV7 is classified as an Apollo asteroid. Its nominal orbit has a minimum orbit intersection distance around 2.6×106 km (1.6×106 mi) from Earth's orbital path. Its closest recent approach to Earth occurred on 17 March 2021, at a distance of 0.276 AU (41.3 million km; 25.7 million mi), and the closest approach it is expected to make over the next two centuries is to within 0.140 AU (20.9 million km; 13.0 million mi) on 28 February 2096.[4] Physical characteristicsDiameter and albedoBased on an magnitude-to-diameter conversion and a measured absolute magnitude of 18.9, 2021 AV7 measures between 440 and 1,000 meters in diameter for an assumed geometric albedo of 0.25 and 0.05, respectively.[2][5] References
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