101955 Bennu
(Bennu, 1999 RQ36)
(near-Earth asteroid that is the target of a sample-return mission)
101955 Bennu (provisional designation: 1999 RQ36)
is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 1999 by LINEAR.
Bennu's diameter is on the order of 500 meters and its orbit,
which ranges from 0.9 AU to 1.35 AU, is close enough to
Earth's that a future impact is possible
(somewhat-near approaches are calculated to take place in 2060 and
2135, the possibility of impact is further in the future).
The NASA mission, OSIRIS-REx visited Bennu in 2018-2021,
collected samples, and returned them to Earth in September 2023,
where the samples are the subject of much study.
(asteroid,minor planet,near-Earth object)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101955_Bennu
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/asteroids/101955-bennu/in-depth/
https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/101955-bennu-1999-rq36
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=101955%20Bennu
https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=Bennu
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017SSRv..212..925L/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023LPICo2806.2611P/abstract
https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.12536
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024LPICo3040.1219M/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024LPICo3040.2348Z/abstract
| Redshift | Parsecs
/Distance | Lightyears
/Lookback Years | | |
| ~0 | 500000km | ~0ly | nearest | 101955 Bennu |
| ~0 | 2.35AU | ~0ly | furthest | 101955 Bennu |
|
Referenced by pages:
near-Earth object (NEO)
OSIRIS-REx
Index