1998 DK36

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Interior-Earth Asteroid
• Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

1998 DK36 is a very small asteroid with an orbit that is entirely confined within Earth's orbit. NASA JPL has classified 1998 DK36 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.

1998 DK36 orbits the sun every 210 days (0.57 years), coming as close as 0.40 AU and reaching as far as 0.98 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 1998 DK36 is probably between 0.026 to 0.059 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

No Close Approaches

1998 DK36'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.

Orbital simulations conducted by NASA JPL's CNEOS do not show any close approaches to Earth.

Images and Observations

1998 DK36's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 23, 1998. It was last officially observed on Feb. 24, 1998. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4 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 1998 DK36:

• 434313 (2004 GP)
• 481817 (2008 UL90)
• 1994 GL

References

• JPL Small Body Database
• Mission Design
• Sky Finder Chart

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 1998 DK36 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 1998 DK36 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.