6Q0B44E
Sign in to saveAlso known as B44E
6Q0B44E, sometimes abbreviated to B44E, is a small object that was discovered orbiting Earth outside the orbit of the Moon in August 2006. It was observed until March 2007, at which point it was lost. It is likely, though unproven, that the same object was re-discovered as XL8D89E, which was observed between 2015 and 2018.
Key facts
- Planet.name
- 6Q0B44E
- Planet.image
- Animation of 6Q0B44E orbit around Earth.gif
- Planet.caption
- Animation of 6Q0B44E's calculated orbit around Earth and the Moon from 2004-09
- Planet.discovered
- 28 August 2006
- Planet.alt_names
- XL8D89E?
- Planet.epoch
- 2007 Jan 1.0 (JD 2454101.5)
- Planet.periapsis
- (1.451 LD, 87.45 ER)
- Planet.apoapsis
- (2.244 LD, 135.24 ER)
- Planet.semimajor
- (1.847 LD, 111.35 ER)
- Planet.eccentricity
- 0.214612
- Planet.period
- 68.93 days
- Planet.mean_anomaly
- 308.134°
- Planet.inclination
- 43.273°
- Planet.asc_node
- 130.039°
- Planet.time_periastron
- 2007/01/10 22:21:48
- Planet.arg_peri
- 140.596°
- Planet.satellite_of
- Earth
- Planet.abs_magnitude
- 30.2
via Wikipedia infobox
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Discovery
- Observations
- Properties
- See also
- References
- External links
6Q0B44E, sometimes abbreviated to B44E, is a small object that was discovered orbiting Earth outside the orbit of the Moon in August 2006. It was observed until March 2007, at which point it was lost. It is likely, though unproven, that the same object was re-discovered as XL8D89E, which was observed between 2015 and 2018.
The properties of 6Q0B44E indicate it is probably an artificial item of space debris, just a few metres across. Orbit calculations show it experiences non-gravitational accelerations (such as a slow gas leak) that gradually shift its position, making it difficult to track.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “6Q0B44E” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.