(143649) 2003 QQ47
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox planet
Template:Mp, provisionally designated: Template:Mp, is a kilometer-sized asteroid and synchronous binary system, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It became briefly notable upon its discovery in late August 2003, when media outlets played up a very preliminary report that it had a 1 in 250,000 chance of impacting into Earth on 21 March 2014.[1] The discovery of a companion, approximately Template:Convert in diameter, was announced in September 2021.
Description
Template:Mp was discovered on 24 August 2003.[2] It was added to the Sentry Risk Table on 30 August 2003.[1] By 31 August 2003 (with an observation arc of 7 days) the odds of an impact on 21 March 2014 were already reduced to 1 in 1.7 million.[3] The asteroid was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 14 September 2003, indicating there is no risk of an impact by it in the next 100 years.[4]
Template:Mp safely passed within Template:Convert of Earth on 26 March 2014.[5][6] With an observation arc of 10 years and an orbital uncertainty of 0, its orbit and future close approaches are well-determined.[5]
Preliminary reports
On 3 September 2003 a NASA press release wrote, Template:Blockquote
Template:Mp has a diameter of approximately 1.24 km, and a mass of approximately Template:ValTemplate:Citation needed. If it were to hit the Earth, it would be a major event, with an energy of approximately 350,000 megatons of TNT (1.5 ZJ), enough to cause global damage.
Sara Russell, a meteorite researcher at London's Natural History Museum, told the BBC on 2 September 2003 that she was not worried that Template:Mp would be a danger; "The odds are very, very low ... We have to keep some kind of perspective", she said.[7]
As a result of the press coverage of asteroids such as Template:Mp, astronomers are now planning to re-word the Torino scale, or to phase it out completely in favour of a scale that is less likely to generate false alarms that may reduce public confidence in genuine alerts.
Binary system
A minor-planet moon orbiting Template:Mp was first detected on 29 August 2021, by Petr Pravec, Peter Kušnirák, Kamil Hornoch, and others using photometric data from ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.[8] The discovery was announced on 17 September 2021. The secondary measures a third the size of its primary (Ds/Dp-ratio of 0.33), resulting in a mean-diameter of approximately 310 meters. It is estimated to be tidally locked, orbiting Template:Convert from the primary every 13.065 hours. The primary has a rotation period of Template:Val hours and a derived diameter of Template:Val kilometers, for a resulting effective diameter (system) of Template:Val kilometers.[8]
In fiction
- The asteroid was mentioned in Anonymous Rex (Les Reptilians) (2004) as the asteroid which the dinosaurs were counting on to destroy human civilization.
- The Korean drama My Love from the Star also mentions it as the asteroid that will allow Do Min-joon to travel back to his home planet.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite web (K03Q47Q)
- ↑ Template:Cite web (5.7e-07 = 1 in 1,754,000 chance)
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:Cite web
External links
- No, Asteroid 2003 QQ47 is NOT Going to Hit the Earth Next Week (Phil Plait 15 March 2014)
- Template:NeoDys
- Template:ESA-SSA
- Template:JPL small body
Template:Minor planets navigator Template:Small Solar System bodies Template:Authority control