LINEAR

Encyclopedia excerpt

The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project is a collaboration of the United States Air Force, NASA, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory for the systematic detection and tracking of near-Earth objects. LINEAR was responsible for the majority of asteroid discoveries from 1998 until it was overtaken by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005. As of 15 September 2011, LINEAR had detected 231,082 new small Solar System bodies, of which at least 2,423 were near-Earth asteroids and 279 were comets. The instruments used by the LINEAR program are located at Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site (ETS) on the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) near Socorro, New Mexico.

Orbital Period · P

616 yr

v(q)

42.8 km/s

v(Q)

0.3 km/s

T_J

1.27

Eccentricity · e

0.9867

Orbit and dynamics

Between its closest point (0.964 AU) and its farthest (143.8 AU), the heliocentric distance changes by 142.9 AU over every revolution.

One full revolution takes 616 yr (225,008 days), computed from the semi-major axis of 72.4 AU.

The high eccentricity (0.987) produces a strongly elongated orbit, so the object spends most of its time far from the Sun.

The orbital plane is tilted 9.93° relative to the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 42.8 km/s at perihelion and falls to 0.3 km/s at aphelion.

Because q < 1 AU and Q > 1 AU, this orbit geometrically intersects the region of Earth's orbit.

Its Tisserand parameter with respect to Jupiter is T_J = 1.27, a standard discriminator between asteroidal and cometary dynamics.

Size and surface

Neither a measured diameter nor a reliable absolute magnitude is available for LINEAR, so its physical size remains unconstrained.

Observation record and orbit quality

Astrometry from 627 individual observations underpins this orbit; the fit leaves an RMS residual of 0.6935 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 3 indicates a moderately constrained orbit; predictions decades ahead still carry noticeable uncertainty.

About these computed values

Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

Orbital Parameters

Semi-Major Axis

72.4 AU

Eccentricity

0.9867

Perihelion

0.964 AU

Aphelion

143.83708 AU

Inclination

9.93°

Orbital Period

— yr

Epoch

2451021.5

Mean Anomaly

0.02°

Orbit diagram

The Sun sits at the focus (orange). Earth's orbit is the grey circle at 1 AU. The red dot marks the object's position at the catalog epoch.

3D orbit (interactive)

Drag to rotate; scroll or pinch to zoom. The Sun is at the focus (orange), Earth's orbit is the grey ring at 1 AU, and the red dot marks the object's current position.

Close approaches

No close approaches to Earth are currently on record for this object.

Physical Parameters

Diameter

— km

Albedo

—

Density

— g/cm³

Rotation Period

— h

Absolute Magnitude

—

Orbit Quality

RMS

0.69348

Condition

Orbit ID

—

Data source: NASA JPL Small-Body Database . Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

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