(33342) 1998 WT24
Tracks of asteroid 1998 WT24 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery site | Lincoln Lab's ETS |
| Discovery date | 25 November 1998 |
| Designations | |
| (33342) 1998 WT24 | |
| 1998 WT24 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 28 June 2009 (JD 2455010.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 18.98 yr (6,933 days) |
| Aphelion | 1.0187 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.4182 AU |
| 0.7185 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4179 |
| 0.61 yr (222 days) | |
| 344.05° | |
| 1° 37m 6.24s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.3419° |
| 82.000° | |
| 167.30° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0097 AU (3.8 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
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(33342) 1998 WT24 is a bright, sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) of the Aten group, located in Venus's zone of influence that has frequent close encounters with Mercury, Venus, and Earth. It made a close approach to Earth on 11 December 2015, passing at a distance of about 4.2 million kilometers (2.6 million miles, 11 lunar distances) and reaching about apparent magnitude 11.
The asteroid was discovered on 25 November 1998 by LINEAR about four months after a close encounter with the planet Mercury (about 0.047 AU). It measures approximately 400 meters in diameter. It is also one of the best studied PHAs and was the 10th Aten asteroid to be numbered.