2004 RE84

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2004 RE84

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 15,148,152 km of Earth in 2020
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2004 RE84 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2004 RE84 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2004 RE84 orbits the sun every 791 days (2.17 years), coming as close as 0.66 AU and reaching as far as 2.69 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2004 RE84 is probably between 0.111 to 0.248 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2004 RE84'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.

2004 RE84 has 18 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 10, 2020 15,148,152 14.065
Oct. 4, 2030 4,642,954 16.453
March 10, 2033 15,812,065 13.906
Oct. 5, 2043 6,286,317 16.009
March 11, 2046 13,212,702 14.415
Oct. 11, 2056 16,741,955 13.729
March 18, 2059 3,224,104 16.780
Oct. 19, 2069 25,914,965 12.135
March 21, 2072 8,527,490 18.572
March 28, 2085 26,348,081 22.195
Sept. 29, 2132 13,658,265 19.566
Feb. 27, 2135 28,397,366 11.966
Oct. 6, 2145 5,867,606 16.125
March 14, 2148 11,880,197 14.668
Oct. 19, 2158 23,374,382 12.514
March 23, 2161 9,822,423 18.807
Oct. 2, 2195 9,881,756 18.742
March 8, 2198 21,683,356 12.832

Images and Observations

2004 RE84's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 10, 2004. It was last officially observed on April 27, 2020. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 198 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 RE84:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.674 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.6055
  • Inclination: 2.0°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 321.93°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 131.84°
  • Mean Anomaly: 244.41°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.143 km
  • Magnitude: 21.9

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 791 days (2.17 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 23.02 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.69 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.66 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2004 RE84 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 RE84 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.