Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2009 KC3

Michael Hicks (JPL/Caltech) , Tzitlaly Barajas (LACC)

This animation of PHA 2009 KC3 was created from forty-four 200-sec R-band exposures taken on September 23, 2009, shows the motion of the object across the plane of the sky over the course of 8.2 hours. 2009 KC3 has an orbit that brings it exceptionally near the Earth and has been designated a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" by the Minor Planet Center. 2009 KC3's orbit also suggests that the object may be a dead or dormant Jupiter-family comet and our color measurements at TMO were designed to test that hypothesis. 2009 KC3 was recently observed using radar at both the Goldstone and Arecibo facilities by a JPL team lead by Lance Benner.