Key facts
- Discovered by
- OAM
- Discovery site
- La Sagra Obs.
- Discovery date
- 23 February 2012
- Pronunciation
- / d u ˈ ɛ n d eɪ / or / ˈ d w ɛ n d eɪ /
- Named after
- Duende , (Iberian/Filipino mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 2012 DA 14
- Minor planet category
- NEO Aten Atira Apollo (pre-2013)
- Observation arc
- 364 days
- Aphelion
- 0.9916 AU
- Perihelion
- 0.8289 AU
- Semi major axis
- 0.9103 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 0.87 yr (317 days)
Article
367943 Duende (provisional designation 2012 DA14) is a micro-asteroid and a near-Earth object of the Aten and Atira group, approximately 30 meters (98 ft) in diameter. It was discovered by astronomers of the Astronomical Observatory of Mallorca at its robotic La Sagra Observatory in 2012, and named for the duende, a goblin-like creature from Iberian mythology and folklore. Duende is likely an uncommon L-type asteroid and significantly elongated. For an asteroid of its size, it has a relatively long rotation period of 9.485 hours.
On 15 February 2013, Duende passed at a record proximity of 27,700 km (17,200 mi) or 4.3 Earth radii from Earth's surface. Due to its close passage, its orbit was perturbed significantly enough that it changed from an Apollo asteroid to an Aten asteroid. Duende's passage also coincided with the completely unrelated Chelyabinsk meteor, which entered Earth's atmosphere above Russia just 16 hours earlier.