Near-Earth asteroid of the Apollo and Alinda group
4179 Toutatis
Toutatis imaged by Chang'e 2 during its flyby
Discovery [1]
Discovered by
Christian Pollas
Discovery site
Caussols
Discovery date
4 January 1989
Designations
MPC designation
(4179) Toutatis
Pronunciation
/taʊˈteɪtɪs/
Named after
Toutatis (Celtic mythology)[2]
Alternative designations
1989 AC
1934 CT
Minor planet category
NEO
Apollo
PHA [1][3]
Alinda
Mars-crosser
Adjectives
Toutatian[4]
Orbital characteristics [3]
Epoch 27 November 2008 (JD 2454797.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc
83.29 yr (30,422 days)
Earliest precovery date
10 February 1934
Aphelion
4.1242 AU
Perihelion
0.9399 AU
Semi-major axis
2.5321 AU
Eccentricity
0.6288
Orbital period (sidereal)
4.03 yr (1,472 days)
Mean anomaly
5.1220°
Mean motion
0° 14m 40.56s / day
Inclination
0.4460°
Longitude of ascending node
124.30°
Argument of perihelion
278.75°
Earth MOID
0.0064 AU (2.5 LD)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions
4.75 × 1.95 km[5]
4.26 × 2.03 × 1.70 km[6]
Mean diameter
2.45 km[6]
Mass
1.9×1013 kg[7]
Mean density
2.5 g/cm3[7]
Synodic rotation period
176 h (7.3 d)[8]
Geometric albedo
0.13[3]
Spectral type
Sk (SMASSII)[3]
Apparent magnitude
8.8–22.4[9][10]
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.30[3]
4179 Toutatis (provisional designation 1989 AC) is an elongated, stony asteroid and slow rotator,[11] classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo asteroid group, approximately 2.5 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by French astronomer Christian Pollas at Caussols in 1989, the asteroid was named after Toutatis from Celtic mythology.[1][2]
Toutatis is also a Mars-crosser asteroid with a chaotic orbit produced by a 3:1 resonance with the planet Jupiter, a 1:4 resonance with the planet Earth, and frequent close approaches to the terrestrial planets, including Earth.[12] In December 2012, Toutatis passed within about 18 lunar distances of Earth. The Chinese lunar probe Chang'e 2 flew by the asteroid at a distance of 3.2 kilometers and a relative velocity of 10.73 km/s.[13] Toutatis approached Earth again in 2016, but will not make another notably close approach until 2069.[14]
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^Hudson, "Gravitational Isopotentials on Toutatis"
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^"Asteroid 4179 Toutasis". NASA. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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4179Toutatis (provisional designation 1989 AC) is an elongated, stony asteroid and slow rotator, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous...
uncertain. It is believed Toutatis was a title for the tutelary gods of various tribes. Miranda Aldhouse-Green suggests that Toutatis was an epithet or description...
August 2016. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(4179) Toutatis". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (4179) Toutatis. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 357–358...
the TT&C network. Having done that it completed a flyby of asteroid 4179Toutatis on 13 December 2012, before heading into deep space to further test...
is strikingly similar to that of 4179Toutatis in eccentricity, semi-major axis, and inclination. However, Toutatis is better known due to a close approach...
making them good subjects for study by Earth-based radar. Examples are 4179Toutatis and 6489 Golevka, as well as 2019 MO, which impacted Earth in June 2019...
2012, the Chinese lunar probe Chang'e 2 made a flyby of the asteroid 4179Toutatis in an extended mission. With a distance of over 7 million kilometers...
onto a heliocentric orbit that took it past the near-Earth asteroid 4179Toutatis. The ESA Gaia probe The joint Russian-German high-energy astrophysics...
rotation is believed to be "tumbling", similar to the near-Earth asteroid 4179Toutatis. It is a common, stony S-type asteroid in both the Tholen and SMASS...
the Solar System, including Saturn's moon Hyperion and the asteroid 4179Toutatis, lack a stable north pole. They rotate chaotically because of their...
in 1930 1999 LE31 approaches to Jupiter and Saturn Chang'E 2 images of Toutatis – December 13, 2012 – The Planetary Society "1994 Release #9412" (Press...
President Fernando Collor de Mello is impeached. 2004 – The asteroid 4179Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth. 2004 – Burt Rutan's Ansari...
Sept Papillons (2000; solo cello) Orion (2002; orchestra) Asteroid 4179: Toutatis (2005; orchestra) La Passion de Simone (2006; oratorio/opera) Adriana...
lunar orbit to the Earth-Sun L2 point, then on to fly by the asteroid 4179Toutatis.[citation needed] The asteroid 39P/Oterma's path from outside Jupiter's...
orbiting Ceres 2007-043A 4179Toutatis Chang'e 2 CNSA 13 December 2012 flyby success came within 3.2 km (2.0 mi) to Toutatis 2010-050A 2000 DP107 PROCYON...
can be given, replacing the provisional part of the designation, e.g. 4179Toutatis. (On Wikipedia, named minor planets also drop their parentheses.) In...
2010 Solar monitoring Chang'e 2 1 October 2010 Lunar orbiter, asteroid 4179Toutatis flyby Juno 5 August 2011 Jupiter orbiter GRAIL 10 September 2011 Two...
extraterrestrial bodies List of extraterrestrial orbiters "Chang'e 2 images of Toutatis". Planetary.org. Rincon, Paul (22 February 2019). "Hayabusa-2: Japan spacecraft...
(2014) China has placed in heliocentric orbit: Chang'e 2 – asteroid 4179Toutatis flyby List of extraterrestrial orbiters List of artificial objects leaving...
comets with a resolution of several meters. For example, the asteroid 4179Toutatis was imaged in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012. Although spacecraft...
fly by two near-Earth asteroids, 433 Eros and 4179Toutatis planned by NASA. The probe impact at Toutatis was needed to obtain the dynamic strength of...