154590 (2003 MA3)

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 154590 (2003 MA3)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller (0.09 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 17,805,013 km of Earth in 2034
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

154590 (2003 MA3) is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2003 MA3 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2003 MA3 orbits the sun every 424 days (1.16 years), coming as close as 0.66 AU and reaching as far as 1.55 AU from the sun. 2003 MA3 is about 0.1 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2003 MA3'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.

2003 MA3 has 17 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 25, 2034 17,805,013 15.838
Jan. 18, 2041 7,259,664 10.830
July 3, 2046 8,586,979 10.672
June 25, 2053 17,972,425 15.707
Jan. 21, 2077 5,932,782 13.370
Jan. 17, 2084 12,232,782 9.816
July 4, 2089 11,478,217 10.088
June 27, 2096 9,384,297 13.958
Jan. 21, 2120 2,284,710 11.998
July 2, 2125 4,389,211 11.631
Jan. 30, 2142 29,602,385 18.242
Jan. 17, 2149 11,185,110 10.013
June 29, 2154 7,710,218 13.604
Jan. 24, 2171 8,060,961 13.816
July 9, 2176 21,437,791 8.086
Jan. 14, 2178 23,888,023 7.431
June 29, 2183 10,423,037 14.174

Images and Observations

2003 MA3's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 29, 1998. It was last officially observed on May 22, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 116 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 2003 MA3:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.105 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4023
  • Inclination: 1.42°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 152.67°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 228.86°
  • Mean Anomaly: 77.69°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.08600 km
  • Magnitude: 21.71
  • Albedo: 0.530

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 424 days (1.16 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 28.35 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.55 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.66 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 154590 (2003 MA3) 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 2003 MA3 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.