2004 XP14

Minor Planet
name = 2004 XP₁₄
discoverer=LINEAR
discovery_date=December 10 2004
designations=
category=Apollo
epoch =
semimajor = 1.05733 AU
perihelion = 0.8909 AU
aphelion = 1.2238 AU
eccentricity = 0.157407
period = 397 d 3 h
inclination = 32.9294°
asc_node =
arg_peri =
mean_anomaly =
speed =
dimensions = 300-900 meters ^{[http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/glossary/h.html H]}
mass =
density =
gravity =
escape_velocity =
rotation =
spectral_class =
abs_mag =19.29
albedo =
temperature =

mp|2004 XP|14 (also written 2004 XP14) is a near-Earth asteroid, first discovered on December 10 2004, by the LINEAR project.

Although initially there were concerns that this asteroid might possibly impact Earth later in the 21st century and thus merit special monitoring, further analysis of its orbit has since ruled out any such collision, at least in the foreseeable future.

The size of mp|2004 XP|14 is not precisely known. Based on optical measurements, the object is from 300 to 900 meters in diameter.

Due to the proximity of its orbit to Earth and its estimated size, this object has been classified as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" (PHA) by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

mp|2004 XP|14's closest pass by Earth was above the west coast of North America at 04:25 UTC on July 3 2006.

The asteroid's distance from Earth's center of mass at that moment was 432,308 km (268,624 miles), 0.00289 AU, or just 1.1 times the Moon's average distance from Earth. It was observed immediately after this close approach by radar from three locations, from Goldstone in the Mojave Desert in the USA, from Sicily, and from Eupatoria, Ukraine, as well as optically from other observatories (see [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7105/full/442855a.html] ).

External links

* [http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov NASA's Asteroid Radar Group]

* [http://au.news.yahoo.com/060701/2/p/zm2u.html Yahoo! News article on mp|2004 XP|14]

* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Unusual/K04X14P.html Orbital elements and ephemeris] for 2004 XP₁₄ from MPC

* [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=110801 Asteroid may pose danger to Earth]

* [http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/blog/?p=19 Close pass by space rock]

* [http://www.brera.mi.astro.it/sormano/mbpl.html Sormano Astronomical Observatory: Minor Body Priority List]

* [ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/moid.html Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance]

* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/Closest.html Closest Approaches to the Earth by Minor Planets]