2003 YL118

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2003 YL118

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 22,498,115 km of Earth in 2021
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2003 YL118 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2003 YL118 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2003 YL118 orbits the sun every 439 days (1.20 years), coming as close as 0.58 AU and reaching as far as 1.68 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2003 YL118 is probably between 0.127 to 0.284 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2003 YL118's orbit is 0.02 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 YL118 has 25 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 27, 2021 22,498,115 20.247
May 13, 2055 26,885,628 20.339
May 16, 2061 18,844,637 18.397
May 19, 2067 13,782,768 16.639
May 21, 2073 13,113,353 15.281
May 24, 2079 16,385,720 13.797
May 27, 2085 22,008,907 12.321
June 1, 2091 29,299,155 10.788
Dec. 16, 2098 26,568,668 10.808
Dec. 18, 2104 19,318,769 12.134
Dec. 18, 2110 19,548,863 12.100
Dec. 18, 2116 20,046,923 11.993
Dec. 18, 2122 21,868,081 11.646
Dec. 17, 2128 22,437,941 11.549
Dec. 18, 2134 19,611,226 12.092
Dec. 18, 2140 17,186,706 12.550
Dec. 19, 2146 16,247,940 12.716
Dec. 19, 2152 15,485,048 12.855
Dec. 19, 2158 16,896,555 12.597
Dec. 18, 2164 19,067,320 12.195
Dec. 18, 2170 22,584,516 11.537
Dec. 17, 2176 25,704,973 10.959
Dec. 17, 2182 29,570,208 10.294
June 2, 2193 29,787,467 10.675
May 31, 2199 26,542,106 11.320

Images and Observations

2003 YL118's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 28, 2003. It was last officially observed on Jan. 27, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 119 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 YL118:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.131 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4862
  • Inclination: 7.61°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 278.69°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 65.76°
  • Mean Anomaly: 197.8°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.164 km
  • Magnitude: 21.6

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 439 days (1.20 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 28.03 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.68 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.58 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2003 YL118 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 YL118 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.