6Q0B44E, sometimes abbreviated to B44E, is a small object, probably an item of space debris, currently orbiting the Earth outside the orbit of the Moon. 6Q0B44E was first observed by Catalina Sky Survey researchers at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona on 28 August 2006. The sighting was confirmed the next day by observations at the Siding Spring Survey and Table Mountain Observatory. Read more
2006 RH120 is the provisional designation for a small asteroid, with a diameter estimated at two metres which ordinarily orbits the Sun but temporarily enters Earth orbit about every 21 years. It most recently was in Earth orbit from September 2006 to June 2007. Until given a minor planet designation on February 18, 2008, the object was known as 6R10DB9, an internal identification number assigned by the Catalina Sky Survey.
6Q0B44E, sometimes abbreviated to B44E, is a small object, probably an item of space debris, currently orbiting the Earth outside the orbit of the Moon. 6Q0B44E was first observed by Catalina Sky Survey researchers at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona on 28 August 2006. The sighting was confirmed the next day by observations at the Siding Spring Survey and Table Mountain Observatory.
6Q0B44E, sometimes abbreviated to B44E, is a small object, probably an item of space junk, currently orbiting the Earth outside the orbit of the Moon. 6Q0B44E was first observed by Catalina Sky Survey researchers at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona on 28 August 2006. The sighting was confirmed the next day by observations at the Siding Spring Survey and Table Mountain Observatory.
The object is just a few metres across and has been provisionally classified as artificial. B44E orbits the earth between 585,000 and 983,000 km, which is 2 to 3 times the distance of the Moon's orbit, over a period of 80 days.
Orbital elements: 6R10DB9 Perigee 2007 Jun 14.220943 TT = 5:18:09 (JD 2454265.720943) Epoch 2007 Jun 10.0 TT; AMR 0.00081521 m2/kg Find_Orb M 346.06910 (2000.0) P Q n 3.30042211 Peri. 72.80705 -0.17210261 0.53604722 a964325.934km Node 124.26114 -0.15941124 -0.84307422 e 0.7129369 Incl. 89.58669 0.97209502 -0.04335006 P 109.07d H 29.5 G 0.15 q 276822.360km Q 0.01104179 From 108 observations 2006 Sept. 14-2007 Mar. 20; RMS error 0.884 arcseconds
Last September, when a tiny asteroid drifted into Earths vicinity, our planets gravity captured it. The meter-size object, designated 6R10DB9, is now making its third wide swing around Earth. It was quite faint, magnitude 19.3, when discovered September 14th with the 0.68-meter Schmidt telescope of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, and it wont get much brighter than that.
"Certainly 6R10DB9, with a geocentric eccentricity less than 1, is currently orbiting the Earth, although it will leave the Earth-Moon system after next Junes perigee" - Gareth V. Williams, of the Minor Planet Centre.
Williamss calculations show that prior to capture 6R10DB9 was in a low-inclination orbit around the Sun with a period of about 11 months. Thats typical of the paths followed by spent rocket boosters left over from space missions of the 1960s and 70s.