1998 WB2

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 1998 WB2

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court (0.15 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 4,211,460 km of Earth in 2023
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

1998 WB2 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 1998 WB2 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

1998 WB2 orbits the sun every 1,010 days (2.77 years), coming as close as 0.82 AU and reaching as far as 3.14 AU from the sun. 1998 WB2 is about 0.2 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, comparable in size to a basketball court.

The rotation of 1998 WB2 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 0.31 hours.

Close Approaches

1998 WB2'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.

1998 WB2 has 12 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 3, 2023 4,211,460 14.206
March 16, 2035 14,927,308 10.815
Dec. 31, 2059 19,686,927 10.650
April 3, 2071 5,247,509 14.099
Nov. 29, 2084 12,385,170 15.798
March 21, 2096 12,273,480 11.240
Dec. 14, 2120 8,122,092 11.870
April 6, 2132 8,167,251 14.803
Nov. 25, 2145 23,614,634 18.226
Jan. 30, 2157 25,649,816 11.261
April 12, 2168 17,219,881 16.714
Dec. 7, 2192 3,398,716 13.837

Images and Observations

1998 WB2's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 18, 1998. It was last officially observed on May 16, 2010. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 227 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 WB2:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.976 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5869
  • Inclination: 2.38°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 52.23°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 78.66°
  • Mean Anomaly: 316.86°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.15000 km
  • Magnitude: 21.86
  • Albedo: 0.151

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 1,010 days (2.77 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 21.28 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 3.14 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.82 AU
  • Rotation Period: 0.31 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 1998 WB2 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 WB2 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.