| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery site | Lincoln Lab's ETS |
| Discovery date | 8 January 2002 (first observed only) |
| Designations | |
| 2002 AT4 | |
| NEO · Amor · PHA[1][2] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 4.94 yr (1,805 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.7000 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.0339 AU |
| 1.8670 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4462 |
| 2.55 yr (932 d) | |
| 260.39° | |
| 0° 23m 11.04s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.4997° |
| 323.48° | |
| 203.06° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.043 AU (16.8 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 350 m (est. at 0.047) |
| SMASS = D[2] | |
| 21.2[2] | |
2002 AT4 is a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Amor group, approximately 350 meters (1,100 feet) in diameter. It has an eccentric orbit that brings it sometimes close to Earth's orbit, and sometimes halfway between Mars and Jupiter. It is a dark D-type asteroid[3] which means that it may be reddish in color.
Due to its relatively low transfer cost of ~5.5 km/s,[4] 2002 AT4 was under consideration by the European Space Agency as a candidate target for the Don Quijote mission to study the effects of impacting a spacecraft into an asteroid; however, it is no longer under consideration.[5]
2002 AT4 orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.0–2.7 AU once every 2 years and 7 months (932 days; semi-major axis of 1.87 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.45 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.[2]
