163348 (2002 NN4)

Small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 163348 (2002 NN4)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge (0.74 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 5,093,595 km of Earth in 2020
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

163348 (2002 NN4) is a small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2002 NN4 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2002 NN4 orbits the sun every 299 days (0.82 years), coming as close as 0.50 AU and reaching as far as 1.26 AU from the sun. 2002 NN4 is about 0.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids, comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The rotation of 2002 NN4 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 14.50 hours.

Close Approaches

2002 NN4's orbit is 0.01 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2002 NN4 has 30 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
June 6, 2020 5,093,595 11.146
June 7, 2029 8,805,769 13.781
Sept. 11, 2030 19,827,935 14.658
June 10, 2038 25,417,679 17.185
Sept. 13, 2039 14,478,526 11.325
Sept. 6, 2048 22,965,708 8.957
June 18, 2052 24,361,238 8.955
June 7, 2061 11,419,445 10.065
June 6, 2070 1,520,758 12.316
Sept. 10, 2071 24,040,202 15.790
Sept. 9, 2080 21,122,561 9.190
June 13, 2084 20,849,962 9.058
June 7, 2093 10,585,689 14.144
Sept. 12, 2094 17,336,040 13.816
Sept. 4, 2103 25,822,148 8.756
June 11, 2107 15,378,201 9.517
June 9, 2116 19,038,226 15.868
Sept. 14, 2117 14,382,610 11.996
June 7, 2130 1,047,608 12.248
Sept. 13, 2131 21,386,579 15.039
June 10, 2144 22,987,118 16.678
Sept. 15, 2145 16,092,028 10.565
June 12, 2149 17,948,885 9.264
Aug. 31, 2159 29,219,712 8.713
June 8, 2163 2,812,406 12.625
Sept. 14, 2164 18,658,509 14.205
June 23, 2168 27,236,657 8.921
June 9, 2182 11,484,210 14.341
Sept. 16, 2183 14,911,627 12.413
June 15, 2187 20,746,137 9.042

Images and Observations

2002 NN4's orbit is determined by observations dating back to July 2, 2002. It was last officially observed on Aug. 27, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 670 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

This asteroid is not considered a viable target for human exploration by the NHATS study.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2002 NN4:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.8758 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4345
  • Inclination: 5.42°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 259.43°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 222.21°
  • Mean Anomaly: 86.77°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.73500 km
  • Magnitude: 20.08
  • Albedo: 0.030

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 299 days (0.82 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 31.87 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.26 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.50 AU
  • Rotation Period: 14.50 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 163348 (2002 NN4) 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 above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 2002 NN4 to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.