(225416) 1999 YC

(225416) 1999 YC
Discovery[1]
Discovered byLINEAR
Discovery siteLincoln Lab's ETS
Discovery date17 December 1999[1][2]
Designations
Designation
(225416) 1999 YC
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0[2]
Observation arc9,199 d (25.19 yr)
Aphelion2.6022 AU
Perihelion0.2414 AU
1.4218 AU
Eccentricity0.8302
619 d (1.69 yr)
70.92°
0° 34m 52.68s / day
Inclination38.263°
64.75°
156.45°
Earth MOID0.24851 AU
Physical characteristics
1.651 ± 0.175 km[1]
4.531 h[1]
4.4950 ± 0.0010 h[3]
Albedo0.094 ± 0.027[1]
Spectral type
C[3]
17.36[1][2]

(225416) 1999 YC is a large near-Earth asteroid of the Apollo group. The asteroid was discovered by astronomers at the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research at the Lincoln Laboratory Experimental Test Site.[2]

1999 YC has been suggested to be a fragment of 3200 Phaethon.[4] The asteroid does not appear to be a member of the Phaethon-Geminid complex.[5]

Orbit and classification

1999 YC orbits the sun on a highly eccentric orbit at a distance between 0.24 AU and 2.60 AU, about every 1.7 years.[1] Its perihelion is within the orbit of Mercury, making the asteroid a Mercury-crosser. The asteroid is an Apollo asteroid, which means its perihelion is within Earth's orbit and has a semi-major axis larger than 1 AU. Despite 1999 YC's large size, the asteroid is not considered to be a potentially hazardous object due to its minimum orbital intersection distance being 0.25 AU, greater than the 0.05 AU maximum needed.[1]

1999 YC's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on 27 November 1999, 20 days before the official discovery observation made by LINEAR.[6]

Physical characteristics

1999 YC is a C-type asteroid.[3]

Measurements from WISE have measured the asteroid's albedo to be between 0.067 and 0.121, corresponding to a size of between 1.5 and 1.8 kilometers.[1]

Formation

Like most asteroids, it is believed to have formed from the primordial solar nebula as fragments of planetesimals—material in the early Solar System that was not massive enough to become a planet.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 225416 (1999 YC)" (2025-02-02 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 4 March 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "(225416) = 1999 YC". Minor Planet Center. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Kasuga, Toshihiro; Jewitt, David (18 May 2008). "Observations of 1999 YC and the Breakup of the Geminid Stream Parent". The Astronomical Journal. 136 (2): 881–889. arXiv:0805.2636. Bibcode:2008AJ....136..881K. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/136/2/881.
  4. ↑ Cukier, Wolf Z.; Szalay, Jamey R. (19 June 2023). "Formation, Structure, and Detectability of the Geminids Meteoroid Stream". The Planetary Science Journal. 4 (6): 109. arXiv:2306.11151. Bibcode:2023PSJ.....4..109C. doi:10.3847/PSJ/acd538.
  5. ↑ Ryabova, G O; Avdyushev, V A; Williams, I P (21 May 2019). "Asteroid (3200) Phaethon and the Geminid meteoroid stream complex". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 485 (3): 3378–3385. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz658. ISSN 0035-8711.
  6. ↑ "(225416) = 1999 YC". Minor Planet Center. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  7. ↑ "What Are Asteroids And Comets?". Near Earth Object Program FAQ. NASA. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.