2020 LD
2020 LD is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 140 meters (460 feet) in diameter. It was discovered on 7 June 2020 when the asteroid was about 0.03 AU (4.5 million km; 12 LD) from Earth and had a solar elongation of 154 degrees. The glare of the Sun had masked the approach of the asteroid since November 2019. The asteroid passed closest approach to Earth on 5 June 2020 at a distance of 0.002 AU (300 thousand km; 0.78 LD). The close approach distance is now known with an accuracy of roughly ± 1000 km. This is the largest asteroid to pass closer than the Moon this year and possibly the largest since (308635) 2005 YU55 in November 2011. The asteroid makes close approaches to Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. It will be brighter than apparent magnitude 24 until 18 July 2020.
Orbital diagram of 2020 LD. It crosses the orbit of all four inner planets of the Solar System. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | ATLAS–MLO (T08) |
| Discovery date | 7 June 2020 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | 2020 LD |
Minor planet category | NEO · Apollo |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 2020-Jun-09 (JD 2459009.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 8 | |
| Observation arc | 11 days |
| Aphelion | 2.20 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.242 |
Semi-major axis | 1.22 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.801 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 1.35 yr |
Mean anomaly | 35.5° |
| Inclination | 3.44° |
Longitude of ascending node | 73.25° |
| 46.33° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0017 AU (250 thousand km) |
| Mercury MOID | 0.00139 AU (208 thousand km) |
| Venus MOID | 0.00148 AU (221 thousand km) |
| Mars MOID | 0.00336 AU (503 thousand km) |
| Jupiter MOID | 2.92 AU (437 million km) |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 89–200 m (CNEOS) ~140 m (460 ft) |
| 22.4±0.2 | |
With a short 6 day observation arc it was possible that the asteroid had passed 0.00008 AU (12 thousand km; 0.031 LD) from Earth in June 1918 or would pass 0.0001 AU (15 thousand km) from Venus in April 2024.
With a 11-day observation arc, the Sentry Risk Table lists a 1 in 9 million chance of impact on 7 June 2109.
(501647) 2014 SD224 is another similarly sized asteroid whose close approach will not be masked by the Sun this year.