2010 AL₃₀

2010 AL₃₀ is a near-Earth asteroid that was discovered on 10 January 2010.[1]

2010 AL₃₀

Goldstone radar collage of asteroid 2010 AL30
Discovery
Discovery date	January 10, 2010
Designations
Alternative designations	none
Minor planet category	Apollo NEO[1]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
Uncertainty parameter 2
Aphelion	1.3688 AU (204.77 Gm)
Perihelion	0.72437 AU (108.364 Gm)
Semi-major axis	1.0466 AU (156.57 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.30787
Orbital period	1.07 yr (391.07 d)
Average orbital speed	28.5
Mean anomaly	156.409°
Mean motion	0° 55m 13.944s /day
Inclination	3.8300°
Longitude of ascending node	112.376°
Argument of perihelion	97.711°
Earth MOID	0.000981553 AU (146,838.2 km)
Jupiter MOID	3.59473 AU (537.764 Gm)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	~30 meters (elongated)[2]
Rotation period	0.14660 h (0.006108 d)
Spectral type	?
Absolute magnitude (H)	27.2

Italian scientists Ernesto Guido and Giovanni Sostero told RIA Novosti that it had an orbital period of almost exactly one year and might be a spent rocket booster.[3] However, it was determined that it is a near-Earth asteroid.[4]

On January 13, 2010 at 1246 UT it passed Earth at 0.0008624 AU (129,010 km; 80,170 mi),[1] about 1/3 of the distance from the Earth to the Moon (or 0.33 LD).

Based an estimated diameter of 10–15 m (33–49 ft), if 2010 AL30 had entered the Earth's atmosphere, it would have created an air burst equivalent to between 50 kT and 100 kT (kilotons of TNT). The Nagasaki "Fat Man" atom bomb had a yield between 13–18 kT.[5]

It has an uncertainty parameter of 2 and has been observed by radar.[1] Radar observations show the asteroid is elongated and is about 30 meters in diameter.[2] It may be a contact binary.