Title: Asteroid 1566 Icarus' size, shape, orbit, and Yarkovsky drift from radar observations Author: Adam H. Greenberg, Jean-Luc Margot, Ashok K. Verma, Patrick A. Taylor, Shantanu P. Naidu, Marina. Brozovic, Lance A. M. Benner
Near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 1566 Icarus (a=1.08 au, e=0.83, i=22.8°) made a close approach to Earth in June 2015 at 22 lunar distances (LD). Its detection during the 1968 approach (16 LD) was the first in the history of asteroid radar astronomy. A subsequent approach in 1996 (40 LD) did not yield radar images. We describe analyses of our 2015 radar observations of Icarus obtained at the Arecibo Observatory and the DSS-14 antenna at Goldstone. These data show that the asteroid has an equivalent diameter of 1.44 km with 18% uncertainties, resolving long-standing questions about the asteroid size. We also solve for Icarus' spin axis orientation (Lambda=270°±10°,Beta=-81°±10°), which is not consistent with the estimates based on the 1968 lightcurve observations. Icarus has a strongly specular scattering behaviour, among the highest ever measured in asteroid radar observations, and a radar albedo of ~2%, among the lowest ever measured in asteroid radar observations. The low cross-section suggests a high-porosity surface, presumably related to Icarus' cratering, spin, and thermal histories. Finally, we present the first use of our orbit determination software for the generation of observational ephemerides, and we demonstrate its ability to determine subtle perturbations on NEA orbits by measuring Icarus' orbit-averaged drift in semi-major axis ((-4.62±0.48) x 10^-4 au/My, or ~60 m per revolution). Our Yarkovsky rate measurement resolves a discrepancy between two published rates that did not include the 2015 radar astrometry.
The 1000 metre wide asteroid (1566) Icarus will make a close pass (21.0 LD, 0.0538 AU) in the constellation Ursa Major, travelling at 30.22 km/second, to the Earth-Moon system on the 16th June 2015 @ 15:39 UT ±00:01.
Apollo asteroid 1566 Icarus makes a close approach to Earth at gaps of 9, 19, or 38 years. Rarely, it comes as close as 6.4 Gm (16 lunar distances and 4 million miles), as it did on June 14, 1968. The last close approach was in 1996, at 15.1 Gm, almost 40 times as far as the Moon. The next close approach will be June 16, 2015, at 8.1 Gm. Read more
At 12:26 p.m. on June 19, 1968 the asteroid Icarus, which is nearly a mile in diameter, will crash into the mid-Atlantic, 2,000 miles east of Florida. Its impact - the equivalent of a 500,000-megaton bomb blast - will splash out some 1,000 cubic miles of sea water and form a crater 15 miles across in the ocean floor. Tidal waves 100 ft. high will sweep across coastal cities on both sides of the ocean, and earthquakes 100 times worse than any ever recorded will be felt all over the world. Read more
1566 Icarus is an Apollo asteroid (a sub-class of near-Earth asteroid) that at perihelion comes closer to the Sun than Mercury, i.e. it is a Mercury-crossing asteroid. It is also a Venus and Mars-crosser. It is named after Icarus of Greek mythology, who flew too close to the Sun. It was discovered in 1949 by Walter Baade. Read more