1. Orbit and Classification

2016 HO₃ orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.9–1.1 AU once every 366 days. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] It has an Earth minimum orbital intersection distance of 0.0348 astronomical unit|AU (5,210,000 km) which translates into 13.6 lunar distances.^[1]

1.1. Quasi-Satellite of Earth

As it orbits the Sun, 2016 HO₃ appears to circle around Earth as well. The object is beyond the Hill sphere of Earth and the Sun exerts a much stronger pull on it than Earth does. Although it is too distant to be considered a true natural satellite of Earth, it is the best and most stable example to date of a near-Earth companion, or quasi-satellite.^[2]

"Since 2016 HO₃ loops around our planet, but never ventures very far away as we both go around the Sun, we refer to it as a quasi-satellite of Earth", said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.^[3]

"One other asteroid – 2003 YN107 – followed a similar orbital pattern for a while over 10 years ago, but it has since departed our vicinity. This new asteroid is much more locked onto us. Our calculations indicate 2016 HO₃ has been a stable quasi-satellite of Earth for almost a century, and it will continue to follow this pattern as Earth's companion for centuries to come." — ^[3]

In its yearly trek around the Sun, asteroid 2016 HO₃ spends about half of the time closer to the Sun than Earth is (that is, the asteroid is inside the Earth's orbit) and passes ahead of our planet, and about half of the time farther away (crosses outside Earth's orbit), causing it to fall behind. Its orbit is also tilted a little, causing it to bob up and then down once each year through Earth's orbital plane. In effect, this small asteroid is caught in a game of leap frog with Earth that will last for hundreds of years.^[3]

The asteroid's orbit also undergoes a slow, back-and-forth twist over multiple decades. "The asteroid's loops around Earth drift a little ahead or behind from year to year, but when they drift too far forward or backward, Earth's gravity is just strong enough to reverse the drift and hold onto the asteroid so that it never wanders farther away than about 100 times the distance of the moon", said Chodas. "The same effect also prevents the asteroid from approaching much closer than about 38 times the distance of the moon. In effect, this small asteroid is caught in a little dance with Earth."^[3]As of now, it has by far the most stable quasi-satellite of Earth discovered, in terms of orbit.

2. Physical Characteristics

The size of 2016 HO₃ has not yet been firmly established, but it is likely about 40–100 m (130–330 ft).^[3] Based on an assumed standard albedo for stony S-type asteroids of 0.20 and an absolute magnitude of 24.3, it measures 41 meters (135 ft) in diameter.^[4]

Photometric observations in April 2017 revealed that 2016 HO₃ is a fast rotator. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 0.467 ± 0.008 hours (28.02 ± 0.48 minutes) and a brightness variation of 0.80±0.05 magnitude ({{{1}}}).^[4][5]

3. Discovery and Naming

Asteroid 2016 HO₃ was first spotted on 27 April 2016, by the Pan-STARRS 1 asteroid survey telescope on Haleakalā, Hawaii, operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy and funded by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office.^[3] As of 2018, the object has not been named.^[6]

4. Gallery

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  Asteroid 2016 HO₃ is a constant companion of the Earth.

• Asteroid 2016 HO₃ orbiting the Sun and Earth (animation; file).