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Asteroid 4179 Toutatis

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  • 05-05-2004 1:52pm
    #1
    Yo Mamma
    Registered Users Posts: 954 ✭✭✭


    Asteroid 4179 Toutatis (formerly 1989 AC) was discovered by C. Pollas on January 4, 1989, at Caussols, France, on photographic plates taken on the 0.9-m Schmidt telescope by Alain Maury and Derral Mulholland during astrometric observations of Jupiter's faint satellites.

    by JPL's Near-Earth Object Program Office http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html extends from just inside the Earth's orbit to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The plane of Toutatis's orbit is closer to the plane of the Earth's orbit than any other known several-kilometer Earth-orbit-crossing asteroid, or ECA. It is in a 3:1 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter that serves as a dynamical pathway from main-belt orbits to Earth-crossing orbits on time scales of a million years. Toutatis may have the most chaotic orbit studied to date, a consequence of the asteroid's frequent close approaches to Earth.

    On Sep. 29, 2004, Toutatis will make the closest predicted approach of any asteroid or comet to Earth during the next 30 years.

    Could hit us someday....


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    #2
    albertw
    Closed Accounts Posts: 395 ✭✭albertw


    This object is due to pass within about 3.3 million miles, however on March 16th (I think) we had 2004 FH pass within 35,000 miles.


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