2004 LO2

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2004 LO2

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 18,834,396 km of Earth in 2025
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2004 LO2 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2004 LO2 as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

2004 LO2 orbits the sun every 320 days (0.88 years), coming as close as 0.59 AU and reaching as far as 1.24 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2004 LO2 is probably between 0.027 to 0.059 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2004 LO2'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.

2004 LO2 has 16 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
June 15, 2025 18,834,396 13.765
June 13, 2032 28,553,369 13.167
June 11, 2068 20,778,493 18.604
June 13, 2075 11,283,530 17.176
June 14, 2082 4,339,538 16.170
June 14, 2089 2,500,567 15.837
June 14, 2096 5,053,318 16.277
June 14, 2103 12,849,041 17.392
June 12, 2110 22,607,806 18.915
June 16, 2151 21,624,664 13.563
June 17, 2158 13,511,341 14.218
June 16, 2165 7,371,309 14.849
June 16, 2172 4,453,406 15.224
June 17, 2179 5,856,287 15.029
June 17, 2186 11,530,417 14.412
June 16, 2193 18,279,109 13.799

Images and Observations

2004 LO2's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 11, 2004. It was last officially observed on June 15, 2004. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 31 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 2004 LO2:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9158 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3513
  • Inclination: 25.44°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 82.6°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 309.44°
  • Mean Anomaly: 259.06°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.034 km
  • Magnitude: 25.0

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 320 days (0.88 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 31.13 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.24 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.59 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2004 LO2 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 2004 LO2 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.