(66063) 1998 RO1
is a stony near-Earth object of the Aten group on a highly-eccentric orbit. The synchronous binary system measures approximately in diameter. It was discovered by astronomers of the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, on 14 September 1998.
It has one minor-planet moon, discovered in September 2003. It has an orbital period of 14.53 hours and measures approximately 48% of its primary, or 380 meters. It is one of seven known Aten binaries as of 2017.
's orbit is very eccentric, with an aphelion beyond the orbit of Mars and a perihelion inside the orbit of Mercury. It has an orbital period of 360.29 days and makes close approaches to Earth. But makes closer approaches to other inner planets, especially Mars. Its closest approach to a planet between 1950–2200 was to Mars, as it passed from Mars on 18 March 1964, and will pass from Mars on 12 October 2065.
Moon
has one unnamed natural satellite. The satellite was discovered from lightcurve observations going from 13 to 28 September 2013, and was confirmed by radar observations from the Arecibo Observatory one year later. It is in a very close orbit to, with a semi-major axis of and an eccentricity of 0.06, giving it a periapsis of and an apoapsis of. The satellite takes 14.54 hours to complete one orbit around.
Numbering and naming
This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 10 September 2003. As of 2018, it has not been named.