2000 AA6

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2000 AA6

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field (0.32 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 15,279,267 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2000 AA6 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2000 AA6 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2000 AA6 orbits the sun every 533 days (1.46 years), coming as close as 0.62 AU and reaching as far as 1.95 AU from the sun. 2000 AA6 is about 0.3 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 90% of asteroids but tiny compared to large asteroids, comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2000 AA6's orbit is 0.01 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2000 AA6 has 16 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 8, 2019 15,279,267 19.127
Aug. 2, 2045 12,877,794 18.504
Jan. 11, 2054 5,718,659 17.167
Jan. 16, 2070 9,013,099 14.228
July 14, 2080 29,840,844 10.285
Jan. 23, 2086 24,309,225 11.122
July 25, 2096 9,623,061 14.222
July 31, 2112 4,049,110 16.674
Jan. 5, 2121 28,448,000 21.795
Aug. 2, 2128 8,243,467 17.569
Jan. 10, 2137 13,224,038 18.704
Jan. 18, 2153 10,226,966 14.002
July 25, 2163 16,146,799 12.904
Aug. 7, 2179 19,936,262 19.925
Jan. 17, 2188 5,858,463 14.901
July 27, 2198 9,599,837 14.215

Images and Observations

2000 AA6's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 3, 2000. It was last officially observed on Jan. 6, 2019. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 151 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 2000 AA6:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.286 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5196
  • Inclination: 2.03°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 279.73°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 287.71°
  • Mean Anomaly: 38.37°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.31600 km
  • Magnitude: 22.45
  • Albedo: 0.026

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 533 days (1.46 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 26.25 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.95 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.62 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2000 AA6 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 2000 AA6 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.