308635 (2005 YU55)

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 308635 (2005 YU55)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the U.S. Capitol building (0.40 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 18,173,161 km of Earth in 2036
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

308635 (2005 YU55) is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2005 YU55 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2005 YU55 orbits the sun every 455 days (1.25 years), coming as close as 0.66 AU and reaching as far as 1.65 AU from the sun. 2005 YU55 is about 0.4 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 90% of asteroids but tiny compared to large asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. Capitol building.

The rotation of 2005 YU55 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 18.00 hours.

2005 YU55's spectral type None (Tholen) / C (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

Close Approaches

2005 YU55's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is very close to Earth's orbit.

2005 YU55 has 6 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Oct. 31, 2036 18,173,161 10.033
April 14, 2040 22,710,881 18.198
Nov. 12, 2041 15,219,737 16.731
April 25, 2045 10,453,214 11.599
Oct. 23, 2070 28,964,319 8.014
Nov. 8, 2075 203,875 13.790

Images and Observations

2005 YU55's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 24, 2005. It was last officially observed on Jan. 6, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,010 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 2005 YU55:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.157 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4304
  • Inclination: 0.34°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 35.95°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 273.54°
  • Mean Anomaly: 232.53°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.40000 km
  • Magnitude: 21.91
  • Spectral type (SMASS): C

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 455 days (1.25 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 27.66 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.65 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.66 AU
  • Rotation Period: 18.00 hours
  • Approx. Composition: water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 308635 (2005 YU55) 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 2005 YU55 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.