is an Apollo

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

 near-Earth asteroid (NEA) discovered by LINEAR

Linear

In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...

 on January 13, 1999.

On August 7, 2027, this NEA will pass within 388,960 km (233,376 miles, 0.0026 AU

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....

; ~1 lunar distance

Lunar distance (astronomy)

In astronomy, a lunar distance is a measurement of the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The average distance from Earth to the Moon is 384,400 kilometers...

) of the Earth. During the close approach, the asteroid should peak at about apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 7.3, and will be visible in binoculars.

1999 AN10 has a well determined orbit. It was found by Andreas Doppler and Arno Gnädig in precovery

Precovery

Precovery is a term used in astronomy that describes the process of finding the image of an object in old archived images or photographic plates, for the purpose of calculating a more accurate orbit...

images from 1955 and has been observed 166 times from 1955 to 2006. According to researchers Andrea Milani, Steven R. Chesley and Giovanni B. Valsecchi, there is a 1 in 10 million chance that 1999 AN10 could return on an impact course in 2039.

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Horizons Ephemeris