2002 VE68 - Discovery, Orbit and Physical Properties

Discovery, Orbit and Physical Properties

It was discovered on November 11, 2002 at Lowell Observatory. As of November 2012, 2002 VE68 has been observed 457 times with a data-arc span of 2,947 days; therefore, its orbit is very well determined. Its semi-major axis (0.7237 AU) is very similar to that of Venus but its eccentricity is rather large (0.4104) and its orbital inclination is also significant (9.0059°). The spectrum of 2002 VE68 implies that it is an X-type asteroid and hence an albedo of about 0.25 should be assumed. This combined with an absolute visual magnitude of 20.59 gives a diameter of about 200 m. Its rotational period is 13.5 h and its light curve has an amplitude of 0.9 mag which hints at a very elongated body, perhaps a contact binary.

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