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2022 UQ1

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2022 UQ1's post-flyby orbit is between Mercury and the Earth.
Flyby trajectories of theLucy'spacecraft compared to2022 UQ1
The Lucy missions Centaur booster before launch

2022 UQ1was aminor planet provisional designationthat was mistakenly given to theLucymission'sCentaur upper stage boosterduring its Earthgravity assistflybyin October 2022.[1]The object passed about 9,100 km (5,700 mi) from the center of Earth (or an altitude of 2,700 km (1,700 mi) above the surface of Earth)[a]during its closest approach on 16 October 2022.[2][3]

Because the object approached Earth from the direction of the Sun, it was not discovered until after its closest approach.[3]The object was discovered on 18 October 2022 by one of theAsteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System(ATLAS) telescopes inRio Hurtado,Chile,which reported it to theMinor Planet Center(MPC) as anear-Earth objectcandidate.[1]Three other observatories produced follow-up observations on the following day and confirmed the object was on a near-Earth orbit, prompting the MPC to announce the object as a new near-Earth object with the provisional designation2022 UQ1on 19 October 2022.[1]The object was later identified as theLucymission's Centaur upper stage booster by Bill Gray and Davide Farnocchia, resulting in the MPC deleting2022 UQ1from its database on 20 October 2022.[4][5][6]

Orbit

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Animation of Lucy Centaur RB Booster around Sun
Lucy Centaur RB Booster·Sun·Earth·Venus·Mercury
Lucy upper stage distance from the center of Earth on 16 October 2022[2]
Date ESA
nominalgeocentric
distance (AU) 		uncertainty
region
(1-sigma)
2022-10-16 06:54 ± 00:17[b] 0.0000609AU(9,100km)[a] ±0.0000002 AU (30 km)[b]

2022 UQ1came toperihelion(closest approach to the Sun) on 27 July 2022 at a distance of 0.84 AU, between the orbits ofVenusand Earth.[7]The Earth encounter in October reduced the period of its heliocentric orbit from 1 year to about 241 days and reduced its perihelion to 0.52 AU, placing it in between the orbits ofMercuryand Venus.[8]

Orbital Elements for October and November 2022
(before and after Earth encounter)[8]
Parameter Epoch Period
(p) 		Aphelion
(Q) 		Perihelion
(q) 		Semi-major
axis
(a) 		Inclination
(i) 		Eccentricity
(e)
Units (days) AU (°)
2022-Oct-01 365.72 1.1630 0.83870 1.0008 0.1271° 0.16201
2022-Nov-01 241.23 0.9977 0.51906 0.7584 1.4283° 0.31557

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^abEarth centerpoint approach distance of9100 km–Earth radiusof6371 km=2729 kmfrom surface.
  2. ^abWhile theJPL Small-Body Databaseclose approach table lists more inclusive (and thus larger)3-sigmauncertainties, theEuropean Space Agencyclose approach table lists more common 1-sigma uncertainties.

References

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  1. ^abc"MPEC 2022-U58: 2022 UQ1".Minor Planet Electronic Circular.Minor Planet Center. 19 October 2022.Retrieved20 October2022.
  2. ^ab"ESA Close Approaches: 2022UQ1".European Space Agency.Archived fromthe originalon 19 October 2022.Retrieved19 October2021.
  3. ^ab"JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2022 UQ1)"(arc:1 day).Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Archived fromthe originalon 19 October 2022.Retrieved19 October2021.
  4. ^"MPEC 2022-U79: Deletion of 2022 UQ1".Minor Planet Electronic Circular.Minor Planet Center. 20 October 2022.Retrieved20 October2022.
  5. ^Gray, Bill J. (20 October 2022).""Pseudo-MPEC" for Lucy Centaur ".Project Pluto.Retrieved20 October2022.
  6. ^Gray, Bill J. (19 October 2022)."Re: 2022 UQ1 related to Lucy?".Minor Planet Mailing List.Retrieved19 October2022.It's definitely the Lucy Centaur.
  7. ^Horizonsoutput."Perihelion on 2022-Jul-27"(Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2022.Retrieved20 October2022.
  8. ^abHorizonsoutput."Osculating Orbital Elements for 2022 UQ1 at Oct + Nov 2022".Archived fromthe originalon 19 October 2022.Retrieved19 October2022.
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