3360 Syrinx

{{Short description|Apollo asteroid}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox planet

| minorplanet=yes

| background=#FFC2E0

| name=(3360) Syrinx

| discoverer=Eleanor F. Helin
R. Scott Dunbar

| discovered=4 November 1981

| mpc_name=(3360) Syrinx

| alt_names=1981 VA

| pronounced={{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪr|ɪ|ŋ|k|s}}{{OED|syrinx}}

| named_after=Syrinx

| mp_category={{Ubl

| Apollo

| Mars crosser

| Alinda family

}}

| epoch=13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)

| semimajor={{Convert|2.46697|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}

| perihelion={{Convert|0.62791|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}

| aphelion={{Convert|4.30603|AU|Gm|abbr=on|lk=on}}

| eccentricity=0.74547

| period=3.87 yr (1415.3 d)

| inclination=21.154°

| asc_node=242.561°

| arg_peri=63.457°

| mean_anomaly=315.35°

| dimensions=1.8 km

| rotation=

| spectral_type=

| abs_magnitude=15.9

| albedo=0.17

| mean_motion={{Deg2DMS|0.25437|sup=ms}} / day

| orbit_ref=

| mean_radius=0.9 km

| observation_arc=12556 days (34.38 yr)

| uncertainty=0

| moid={{Convert|0.107877|AU|Gm|abbr=on}}

}}

3360 Syrinx (originally designated 1981 VA) is an Apollo and Mars crosser asteroid discovered in 1981. It approaches Earth to within {{convert|40|Gm|AU LD|abbr=on|lk=on}} three times in the 21st century: {{convert|33|Gm|AU LD|abbr=on|lk=on}} in 2039, 40 Gm in 2070, and {{convert|24|Gm|AU LD|abbr=on|lk=on}} in 2085.

On 20 September 2012, it closely encountered Earth at a distance of {{convert|0.4192|AU|km mi|abbr=on|lk=on}}, peaking in brightness at an apparent magnitude of 17.0. In opposition on 23 November 2012, it brightened to magnitude 16.0.

It is a member of the Alinda group of asteroids with a 3:1 resonance with Jupiter that has excited the eccentricity of the orbit over the eons. As an Alinda asteroid it makes approaches to Jupiter, Earth, and Venus.

For a time, it was the lowest numbered asteroid that had not been named. In November 2006, this distinction passed to 3708 Socus, and in May 2021 to (4596) 1981 QB.{{cn|date=June 2024}}