2002 VE68

2002 VE68 is a near-Earth asteroid of Aten type, which was discovered on 11 November 2002 by LONEOS project of the Lowell Observatory.

The asteroid is in 1:1 resonance with Venus and is currently their only known quasi- satellite. This is the first discovered this type, and so far the only known co-orbital companion of Venus. 2002 VE68 looks on from Venus made ​​to revolve once around the planet Venus within a year, but he is actually in orbit around the sun. According to calculations, since 7,000 years he is already on its current orbit and will follow her even for another 500 years. Due to the high eccentricity of about 0.4 and the inclination of around 9 ° its maximum distance from the sun is almost as large as the Earth and its minimum distance is less than the aphelion of Mercury; it approaches the earth also. Presumably, the asteroid was a near-Earth asteroid that was brought from the earth itself on its current track about 7,000 years ago.