Rees is a
Mars-crossing asteroid, a dynamically unstable group between the
main belt and the
near-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of
Mars at 1.66
AU. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.31–4.01
AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,583 days;
semi-major axis of 2.66 AU). Its orbit has a high
eccentricity of 0.51 and an
inclination of 25
° with respect to the
ecliptic. The body's
observation arc begins with its first observation as '''' at
Palomar in September 1960, or 13 years prior to its official discovery observation.
Former near-Earth object Before 2014,
Rees has been a
near-Earth object of the
Amor group, as its
perihelion was slightly less than 1.3 AU due to the body's
osculating orbit.
Close approaches In July 2072,
Rees will pass from
Mars, the closest since it passed from the Red Planet on 28 January 1843. The asteroid will also pass from the second largest asteroid,
4 Vesta, on 30 January 2121.
Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey The
survey designation "T-2" stands for the second
Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey, named after the fruitful collaboration of the Palomar and
Leiden Observatory in the 1960s and 1970s. Gehrels used Palomar's
Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the
photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where
astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of
several thousand asteroid discoveries. == Naming ==