2017 DR109

2017 DR₁₀₉, is a micro-asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Apollo group and Aten group, respectively. It is currently trapped in a 1:1 mean motion resonance with the Earth of the horseshoe type.^[5] The object was first observed on 27 February 2017, by astronomers of the Catalina Sky Survey conducted at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, United States.^[2]

2017 DR₁₀₉

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Catalina Sky Srvy.
Discovery site	Mount Lemmon Obs.
Discovery date	27 February 2017
Designations
MPC designation	2017 DR109
Minor planet category	NEO · Apollo[1] · Aten[2]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 6
Observation arc	(5 days)
Aphelion	1.2422 AU
Perihelion	0.7591 AU
Semi-major axis	1.0006 AU
Eccentricity	0.2414
Orbital period (sidereal)	1.00 yr (366 days)
Mean anomaly	263.04°
Mean motion	0° 59m 4.92s / day
Inclination	3.0600°
Longitude of ascending node	341.31°
Argument of perihelion	72.094°
Earth MOID	0.0062 AU (2.4 LD)
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	9–20 m (estimate)[3][4][a]
Absolute magnitude (H)	27.6[1]

Discovery

2017 DR₁₀₉ was first observed by astronomer D. C. Fuls on 27 February 2017, using the 0.68-meter Schmidt camera of the Catalina Sky Survey at a visual apparent magnitude of 19.6.^[5]: 6

Orbit and physical properties

The asteroid's orbit has still a high uncertainty; with a very short observation arc of just 5 days. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.76–1.24 AU once every 366 days (semi-major axis of 1.00 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] With a semi-major axis of that of Earth, the object is both classified as a member of Apollo and Aten in the JPL Small-Body Database and by the Minor Planet Center, respectively.^[1][2] Both Apollo and Aten asteroids are Earth-crossing asteroids.

Earth co-orbital

2017 DR₁₀₉ is currently trapped in a 1:1 mean motion resonance with the Earth of the horseshoe type and follows an orbit similar to those of 54509 YORP, 2017 FZ2 and several other near-Earth asteroids.^[5]

Physical characteristics

2017 DR₁₀₉ has an absolute magnitude of 27.6 which gives a calculated mean diameter between 9 and 20 meters for an assumed geometric albedo of 0.20 and 0.04, respectively, which are typical values for stony S-type and carbonaceous C-type asteroids.^[3][4]

Notes

• ^{^} This is assuming an albedo of 0.20 and 0.04, respectively.