2002 AA29

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2002 AA29

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 22,217,740 km of Earth in 2093
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2002 AA29 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2002 AA29 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.

2002 AA29 orbits the sun every 361 days (0.99 years), coming as close as 0.98 AU and reaching as far as 1.01 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2002 AA29 is probably between 0.040 to 0.090 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

The rotation of 2002 AA29 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 0.55 hours.

Close Approaches

2002 AA29's orbit is 0.01 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.

2002 AA29 has 35 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
July 24, 2093 22,217,740 7.246
Jan. 1, 2094 26,805,012 7.459
July 19, 2094 15,424,239 6.481
Jan. 3, 2095 20,392,552 6.687
July 16, 2095 10,044,763 6.003
Jan. 4, 2096 15,770,267 6.237
July 12, 2096 6,658,654 5.776
Jan. 3, 2097 13,630,933 6.036
July 11, 2097 5,641,784 5.728
Jan. 2, 2098 14,344,385 6.065
July 13, 2098 7,110,214 5.811
Dec. 31, 2098 17,554,992 6.297
July 15, 2099 11,168,283 6.103
Dec. 28, 2099 22,692,475 6.751
July 19, 2100 17,216,802 6.698
Dec. 23, 2100 29,217,644 7.438
July 23, 2101 24,608,414 7.608
Jan. 15, 2189 23,539,276 7.450
June 20, 2189 28,080,749 7.447
Jan. 13, 2190 16,457,852 6.610
June 24, 2190 21,479,562 6.669
Jan. 11, 2191 10,793,685 6.093
June 28, 2191 16,521,088 6.176
Jan. 10, 2192 7,076,359 5.844
June 28, 2192 13,874,628 5.967
Jan. 8, 2193 5,584,988 5.765
June 28, 2193 13,846,587 5.954
Jan. 9, 2194 6,212,625 5.809
June 25, 2194 16,218,317 6.112
Jan. 10, 2195 9,289,986 6.030
June 20, 2195 20,590,353 6.479
Jan. 11, 2196 14,646,577 6.508
June 12, 2196 26,482,587 7.075
Jan. 11, 2197 21,595,257 7.342
Jan. 13, 2198 29,569,009 8.459

Images and Observations

2002 AA29's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 9, 2002. It was last officially observed on Jan. 15, 2004. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 63 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 AA29:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9926 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.013
  • Inclination: 10.75°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 106.35°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 101.82°
  • Mean Anomaly: 221.18°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.052 km
  • Magnitude: 24.1

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 361 days (0.99 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.91 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.01 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.98 AU
  • Rotation Period: 0.55 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2002 AA29 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 2002 AA29 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.