We apply the method described above to the lost asteroid 1998 OX4.
Attention was focused on this object after we announced that it has a
remote, but not negligible impact probability. It was discovered on
July 26, 1998 (UT) by Jim Scotti with the 0.9-m Spacewatch telescope
on Kitt Peak [MPEC 1998-O27], and observed only over a short arc, due its
intrinsic faintness and unfavorable observing conditions
[MacMillan 1999]. The keplerian orbital elements with RMS uncertainty at
epoch 1999 Jan 22.0 TDT are: semimajor axis
AU,
eccentricity
,
inclination
degrees,
longitude of ascending node
degrees, argument of
perihelion
degrees, mean anomaly
degrees. The object is already lost by several degrees, and the large
uncertainty in semimajor axis implies that the length of the
confidence region will continue to grow rapidly.