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2020 QG
Earth-crossing asteroid / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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2020 QG, also known by its internal designation ZTF0DxQ,[3] is an Earth-crossing asteroid, a few meters in diameter. It belongs to the Apollo group, and passed above the surface of Earth approximately 2,950 kilometres (1,830 mi) away[lower-alpha 2] (less than half an Earth radius) on 16 August 2020 at 04:09 UT.[4] It was first imaged by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at the Palomar Observatory about 6 hours after this closest approach, and was later identified by Kunal Deshmukh, a student at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, along with colleagues Kritti Sharma, Chen-Yen Hsu and Bryce T. Bolin analyzing images from the ZTF.[5][2]
![]() 2020 QG imaged as a streak of light by the Zwicky Transient Facility on 16 August 2020 | |
Discovery[1][2] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Zwicky Transient Facility |
Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
Discovery date | 16 August 2020 |
Designations | |
2020 QG | |
ZTF0DxQ[3] | |
NEO · Apollo[1] | |
Orbital characteristics[4] | |
Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 6 | |
Observation arc | 1.6 days[1][lower-alpha 1] |
Aphelion | 2.8933±0.0009 AU |
Perihelion | 0.99628 AU |
1.9448±0.0006 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.48772±0.0002 |
2.71 yr (990.51±0.47 d) | |
337.41±0.011° | |
0° 21m 48.696s / day | |
Inclination | 5.4727±0.004° |
143.50° | |
1 August 2020 03:43 UT | |
162.01±0.003° | |
Earth MOID | 0.00027 AU (40,000 km) |
Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | ~3 m (est. at ~0.17)[3] 2–14 m (est. at 0.01–0.60)[3] |
29.87±0.25[4] | |
At the time, 2020 QG passed closer to Earth than any known asteroid, except for those that became meteors. It passed closer than 2011 CQ1 and 2020 JJ.[lower-alpha 3] Given an absolute magnitude of 29.8, it is estimated to be around 3–6 metres (10–20 ft) in diameter[3] so similar to Earth-impactors 2008 TC3, 2014 AA, 2018 LA, and 2019 MO.