2005 TU50

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2005 TU50

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 23,453,766 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2005 TU50 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2005 TU50 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2005 TU50 orbits the sun every 622 days (1.70 years), coming as close as 0.58 AU and reaching as far as 2.28 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2005 TU50 is probably between 0.136 to 0.305 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2005 TU50's orbit is 0.01 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2005 TU50 has 16 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Oct. 20, 2022 23,453,766 24.431
March 25, 2024 10,795,292 20.936
April 5, 2041 24,212,409 15.796
Oct. 6, 2051 20,539,823 16.087
Oct. 15, 2068 6,045,631 21.058
March 20, 2070 23,469,745 24.082
April 5, 2087 22,153,281 16.160
Oct. 8, 2097 14,837,439 17.156
Oct. 22, 2114 25,111,137 24.781
March 27, 2116 8,782,408 20.300
Oct. 14, 2143 3,340,263 19.325
Oct. 17, 2160 7,317,587 21.322
March 21, 2162 23,012,535 24.058
Oct. 23, 2177 27,419,278 25.237
March 28, 2179 8,370,884 20.318
April 2, 2196 14,024,892 17.756

Images and Observations

2005 TU50's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 12, 2005. It was last officially observed on Nov. 16, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 171 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 TU50:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.426 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5964
  • Inclination: 12.42°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 22.26°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 259.59°
  • Mean Anomaly: 218.69°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.176 km
  • Magnitude: 21.45

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 622 days (1.70 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 24.94 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.28 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.58 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2005 TU50 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 TU50 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.