Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 28,641,987 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2023 HO4 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2023 HO4 as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

2023 HO4 orbits the sun every 374 days (1.02 years), coming as close as 0.84 AU and reaching as far as 1.19 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2023 HO4 is probably between 0.041 to 0.182 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2023 HO4's orbit is 0.11 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

2023 HO4 has 45 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
June 2, 2022 28,641,987 9.849
June 20, 2023 17,587,751 6.082
April 24, 2024 28,722,402 4.456
July 28, 2024 21,036,993 6.216
Sept. 1, 2025 25,120,978 6.828
Feb. 24, 2026 29,548,342 6.169
Oct. 6, 2026 26,293,575 6.083
Jan. 31, 2027 24,121,820 5.778
Jan. 2, 2028 16,753,807 5.412
Dec. 23, 2028 22,914,756 8.819
June 3, 2065 26,417,442 9.267
June 22, 2066 17,496,237 5.927
April 23, 2067 28,760,059 4.527
July 29, 2067 21,085,340 6.233
Aug. 30, 2068 24,997,490 6.799
Feb. 26, 2069 29,487,950 6.153
Oct. 3, 2069 26,365,883 6.227
Feb. 2, 2070 24,596,753 5.825
Jan. 6, 2071 17,471,030 5.320
Dec. 24, 2071 20,062,944 7.970
June 8, 2109 21,988,369 8.031
July 5, 2110 18,081,499 5.716
Aug. 11, 2111 22,693,676 6.537
Sept. 12, 2112 25,915,506 6.756
Feb. 17, 2113 28,033,336 6.109
Oct. 21, 2113 25,724,847 5.385
Jan. 23, 2114 21,765,424 5.550
Dec. 28, 2114 16,029,084 5.992
Dec. 26, 2115 27,448,858 9.990
June 5, 2150 26,199,144 9.274
June 28, 2151 17,426,443 5.834
Aug. 7, 2152 22,205,748 6.474
Sept. 13, 2153 25,976,388 6.768
Feb. 17, 2154 28,341,782 6.135
Oct. 26, 2154 25,472,070 5.096
Jan. 20, 2155 21,201,387 5.499
Dec. 26, 2155 16,686,059 6.666
June 19, 2189 17,631,211 6.402
April 26, 2190 29,234,701 4.436
July 30, 2190 21,024,941 6.261
Sept. 7, 2191 25,565,509 6.835
Feb. 22, 2192 29,352,693 6.188
Oct. 19, 2192 25,963,974 5.519
Jan. 23, 2193 22,325,726 5.609
Dec. 26, 2193 16,264,063 6.371

Images and Observations

2023 HO4's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 15, 2023. It was last officially observed on May 31, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 31 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2023 HO4 can be reached with a journey of 450 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 8.756 km/s. To put this into perspective, the delta-v to launch a rocket to Low-Earth Orbit is 9.7 km/s. There are 112,668 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2023 HO4.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2023 HO4:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.016 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1721
  • Inclination: 7.51°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 144.11°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 208.39°
  • Mean Anomaly: 17.01°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.112 km
  • Magnitude: 23.16

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 374 days (1.02 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.55 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.19 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.84 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2023 HO4 is indicated by a ◯ pink circle. Note that the object may not be in your current field of view. Use the controls below to adjust position, location, and time.

Size Rendering

The below comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 2023 HO4 to create an approximate landscape rendering with New York City in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.