2006 RH₁₂₀

2006 RH120 is a tiny near-Earth asteroid and fast rotator with a diameter of approximately 2–3 meters that ordinarily orbits the Sun but makes close approaches to the Earth–Moon system around every twenty years, when it can temporarily enter Earth orbit through temporary satellite capture (TSC). Most recently, it was in Earth orbit from July 2006 to July 2007, during which time it was never more than 0.0116 AU (1.74 million km) from Earth.
As a consequence of its temporary orbit around the Earth, it is currently the second smallest asteroid in the Solar System with a well-known orbit, after 2021 GM1. Until given a minor planet designation on 18 February 2008, the object was known as 6R10DB9, an internal identification number assigned by the Catalina Sky Survey.
== Discovery ==
2006 RH120 was discovered on 14 September 2006 by Eric Christensen with the 27-inch (690 mm) Schmidt camera of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. "6R10DB9" was the Catalina Sky Survey's own discovery designation for this object, which usually would only be used on the MPC's Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) until an IAU designation was applied, if the object was classified as a minor object. It was added on 14 September to the NEOCP and subsequently removed with the explanation that it "was not a minor planet". Preliminary orbital calculations indicated it was captured by Earth's gravity from solar orbit of a period of about 12 months, which is similar to that of many spent rocket boosters dating to the Apollo program of the 1960s and early 1970s. 6R10DB was assigned the designation 2006 RH120 on 18 February 2008.
Category:Asteroids
Category:Objects Not in Hydrostatic Equilibrium
Category:Objects with No Atmosphere
Category:Near Earth Object
Category:Amor
Category:Apollo
Category:Fast Rotator
Category:Temporary Satellite