The Orbit of Asteroid 1994 PC1

TL;DR

This study determines the precise orbital elements of Near-Earth Asteroid 1994 PC1 using CCD imaging data, providing updated parameters and uncertainties crucial for impact risk assessment.

Contribution

It presents new orbital parameters of asteroid 1994 PC1 derived from CCD observations and compares them with JPL data, including detailed uncertainty estimates.

Findings

Eccentricity of 0.3272 with small uncertainty

Semi-major axis of 1.3401 AU with high precision

Inclination of 33.30 degrees accurately measured

Abstract

Near-Earth Asteroids can be hazardous to the Earth, due to their orbital characteristics and proximity to inner Solar System planets. Using three sets of CCD images collected in June and July 2011, the orbital elements of asteroid 1994 PC1 were determined at solar opposition. The body's specific right ascension and declination were calculated through least squares plate reduction (taking parallax into account) and compared to those of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These data were then used to find 1994 PC1's orbital elements, as well as any statistical uncertainty. This research points to an eccentricity of 0.3272 (+0.00009 or -0.0005), a semi major axis of 1.3401 AU (+0.0001 AU or -0.0004 AU), an inclination angle of 33.30^{\circ} (+0.05^{\circ} or -0.01^{\circ}), a longitude of the ascending node of 118.01^{\circ} (+0.09^{\circ} or -0.02^{\circ}), an argument of perihelion of 47.14^{\circ} (+0.005^{\circ} or -0.08^{\circ}), and a time of last perihelion of JD 2455642.88 (+0.007 or -0.03).