2016 YW7 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2016 YW7 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.
2016 YW7 orbits the sun every 405 days (1.11 years), coming as close as 0.59 AU and reaching as far as 1.55 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2016 YW7 is probably between 0.211 to 0.472 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.
2016 YW7's orbit is 0.04 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.
2016 YW7 has 20 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:
Date | Distance from Earth (km) | Velocity (km/s) |
---|---|---|
April 4, 2024 | 29,399,347 | 20.904 |
Nov. 16, 2037 | 13,567,737 | 18.885 |
Nov. 13, 2047 | 5,508,940 | 16.766 |
Nov. 10, 2057 | 9,639,718 | 15.249 |
April 25, 2065 | 28,857,998 | 13.060 |
Nov. 7, 2067 | 20,475,131 | 13.318 |
April 19, 2075 | 20,832,663 | 14.610 |
April 13, 2085 | 16,925,995 | 16.733 |
April 7, 2095 | 24,623,314 | 19.794 |
Nov. 20, 2108 | 23,597,779 | 20.840 |
Nov. 17, 2118 | 11,500,036 | 18.435 |
Nov. 13, 2128 | 5,771,131 | 16.668 |
Nov. 12, 2138 | 9,228,849 | 15.390 |
April 27, 2146 | 29,705,893 | 12.887 |
Nov. 8, 2148 | 20,578,675 | 13.306 |
April 19, 2156 | 19,856,424 | 14.820 |
April 15, 2166 | 16,597,334 | 16.606 |
April 10, 2176 | 20,153,293 | 18.624 |
April 6, 2186 | 29,719,662 | 21.069 |
Nov. 20, 2199 | 19,715,848 | 20.076 |
2016 YW7's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 23, 2016. It was last officially observed on Dec. 22, 2017. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 67 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of 2016 YW7 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.
The below comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 2016 YW7 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.