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(85990) 1999 JV6
(85990) 1999 JV6 (provisional designation 1999 JV6) is a sub-kilometer near-Earth asteroid and a potentially hazardous object of the Apollo group. It was discovered by astronomers of the LINEAR program at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico. 1999 JV6 is a contact binary object consisting of two distinct lobes, as seen in radar images from various observatories including Arecibo and Goldstone in January 2015. Close approaches In January 2015, 1999 JV6 approached Earth within a distance of 32.4 lunar distances (0.0833 AU).[1] During the encounter, 1999 JV6 was observed by radar from the Arecibo, Green Bank, and Goldstone observatories.[3] In January 2016, 1999 JV6 has made another close approach at a distance of 12 lunar distances (0.032 AU), several times closer than the encounter in 2015.[1][3] The Minor Planet Center has classified 1999 JV6 as a potentially hazardous asteroid due to its large size and small Earth minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.03 AU.[4][1] Physical characteristics1999 JV6 was discovered in May 1999 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico. Most properties of 1999 JV6 have been determined through photometry, spectroscopy, infrared radiometry, and radar imaging.[3] Binzel et al. (2001) have found that 1999 JV6 has a spectral class of an Xk-type asteroid. Thermal infrared observations using the WISE spacecraft by Mainzer et al. (2011) and the Spitzer Space Telescope by Mueller et al. (2011) give a diameter of 0.45 km (0.28 mi). Warner et al. (2014, 2015) suggest that 1999 JV6 has a highly elongated shape due to its large light curve amplitude of 0.9 magnitudes. Based on 1999 JV6's large brightness changes, they measured a rotation period of 6.54 hours. In January 2015, radar imaging by the Arecibo Observatory and the Green Bank Observatory confirmed 1999 JV6's elongated shape and provided delay-Doppler images used to obtain a preliminary estimate of a 3D model for its shape. The radar data reveal an apparent concavity and suggest that 1999 JV6 is a contact binary.[4] References
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