Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 15,883,395 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2005 RB3 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2005 RB3 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.

2005 RB3 orbits the sun every 300 days (0.82 years), coming as close as 0.53 AU and reaching as far as 1.22 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2005 RB3 is probably between 0.080 to 0.179 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2005 RB3's orbit is 0.05 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.

2005 RB3 has 17 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Sept. 9, 2019 15,883,395 21.034
Sept. 10, 2028 21,420,503 17.978
Sept. 10, 2042 7,327,793 19.391
Sept. 8, 2056 21,777,970 21.873
Sept. 11, 2065 14,018,899 18.452
Sept. 10, 2079 11,940,046 20.468
Sept. 10, 2088 22,936,701 17.904
Sept. 12, 2102 7,752,300 19.223
Sept. 10, 2116 15,927,138 21.030
Sept. 12, 2125 21,660,311 17.954
Sept. 12, 2139 7,494,999 19.326
Sept. 9, 2153 20,523,068 21.672
Sept. 12, 2162 15,504,992 18.343
Sept. 11, 2176 10,315,280 20.203
Sept. 12, 2185 25,846,725 17.763
Sept. 8, 2190 29,469,817 22.966
Sept. 13, 2199 10,084,273 18.848

Images and Observations

2005 RB3's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 3, 2005. It was last officially observed on Aug. 28, 2019. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 103 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 2005 RB3:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.8776 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3937
  • Inclination: 36.11°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 165.83°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 320.42°
  • Mean Anomaly: 221.57°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.103 km
  • Magnitude: 22.61

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 300 days (0.82 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 31.82 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.22 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.53 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2005 RB3 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 2005 RB3 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.