about 500 yr more and its dynamical evolution is controlled not only by the Earth, with a non-negligible contribution from the Moon, but by Mercury as well. 2002 VE$_{68}$ exhibits resonant (or near resonant) behaviour with Mercury, Venus and the Earth. Our calculations indicate that an actual collision with the Earth during the next 10,000 yr is highly unlikely but encounters as close as 0.04 AU occur with a periodicity of 8 years.'
date: 'Accepted 2012 August 14. Received 2012 August 9; in original form 2012 July 25'
title: 'On the dynamical evolution of 2002 VE$_{68}$'
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celestial mechanics – planets and satellites: individual: Venus – asteroids: individual: 2002 VE68 – Solar System: general – minor planets, asteroids

Introduction
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Minor planet 2002 VE$_{68}$ was discovered by Brian A. Skiff working for the LONEOS Survey at Lowell Observatory on November 11, 2002 and confirmed by the Eschenberg Observatory the following night (Griesser, Skiff & Spahr 2002)[^1]. With a value of the semi-major axis $a$ = 0.7237 AU very close to that of Venus (0.7233 AU), this Aten asteroid is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) moving in a quite eccentric orbit, $e$ = 0.4104, that makes it a Mercury grazer, Venus crosser 