2020 PN1

2020 PN₁ is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Aten group, that is a temporary horseshoe companion to the Earth. There are dozens of known Earth horseshoe librators, some of which switch periodically between the quasi-satellite and the horseshoe co-orbital states.

Discovery

2020 PN₁ was discovered on 12 August 2020 by L. Denneau, J. Tonry, A. Heinze, and H. Weiland observing for the ATLAS-HKO Survey. As of 20 January 2021, it has been observed 41 times with an observation arc of 361 days.

Orbit and orbital evolution

2020 PN₁ is currently an Aten asteroid (Earth-crossing but with a period less than a year). Its semi-major axis (currently 0.998105754 AU) is similar to that of Earth (0.999789 AU), but it has a moderate eccentricity (0.1269557) and low orbital inclination (4.80807°). It alternates between being an Aten asteroid and being an Apollo asteroid, although its orbital evolution is not fully stable and it can be considered as a temporary co-orbital companion to the Earth.

Physical properties

With an absolute magnitude of 25.5 mag, it has a diameter in the range 10–50 meters (for an assumed albedo range of 0.04–0.20, respectively).

Exploration

2020 PN₁ was pre-selected for an exploration by a Chinese mission of planetary defense including an impactor and a separate orbiter planned to launch in 2026. However, in April 2023, the new target is 2019 VL₅.

Notes

References

Further reading

Understanding the Distribution of Near-Earth Asteroids Bottke, W. F., Jedicke, R., Morbidelli, A., Petit, J.-M., Gladman, B. 2000, Science, Vol. 288, Issue 5474, pp. 2190–2194.
A Numerical Survey of Transient Co-orbitals of the Terrestrial Planets Christou, A. A. 2000, Icarus, Vol. 144, Issue 1, pp. 1–20.
Debiased Orbital and Absolute Magnitude Distribution of the Near-Earth Objects Bottke, W. F., Morbidelli, A., Jedicke, R., Petit, J.-M., Levison, H. F., Michel, P., Metcalfe, T. S. 2002, Icarus, Vol. 156, Issue 2, pp. 399–433.
Transient co-orbital asteroids Brasser, R., Innanen, K. A., Connors, M., Veillet, C., Wiegert, P., Mikkola, S., Chodas, P. W. 2004, Icarus, Vol. 171, Issue 1, pp. 102–109.
A trio of horseshoes: past, present and future dynamical evolution of Earth co-orbital asteroids 2015 XX₁₆₉, 2015 YA and 2015 YQ₁ de la Fuente Marcos, C., de la Fuente Marcos, R. 2016, Astrophysics and Space Science, Vol. 361, Issue 4, article 121 (13 pp).

External links

Discovery MPEC
2020 PN₁ data at MPC
2020 PN1 at NeoDyS-2, Near Earth Objects—Dynamic Site
- Ephemerides · Observation prediction · Orbital info · MOID · Proper elements · Observational info · Close approaches · Physical info · Orbit animation
2020 PN1 at ESA–space situational awareness
- Ephemerides · Observations · Orbit · Physical properties · Summary
2020 PN1 at the JPL Small-Body Database