Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 17,109,256 km of Earth in 2020
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2005 TC51 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2005 TC51 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 TC51 orbits the sun every 370 days (1.01 years), coming as close as 0.70 AU and reaching as far as 1.32 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2005 TC51 is probably between 0.006 to 0.027 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2005 TC51's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2005 TC51 has 7 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
May 6, 2020 17,109,256 6.446
May 11, 2021 9,685,849 8.299
May 15, 2022 10,138,334 10.208
May 19, 2023 18,220,550 12.249
May 21, 2024 28,285,700 14.369
Oct. 12, 2088 9,969,918 11.133
Oct. 15, 2089 763,749 9.283

Images and Observations

2005 TC51's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 12, 2005. It was last officially observed on Oct. 13, 2005. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 18 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2005 TC51 can be reached with a journey of 434 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 10.585 km/s. To put this into perspective, the delta-v to launch a rocket to Low-Earth Orbit is 9.7 km/s. There are 6,556 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2005 TC51.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2005 TC51:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.008 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3057
  • Inclination: 5.65°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 198.95°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 288.26°
  • Mean Anomaly: 182.77°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.017 km
  • Magnitude: 27.3

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 370 days (1.01 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.64 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.32 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.70 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2005 TC51 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.