2006 CU

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2006 CU

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 20,063,735 km of Earth in 2031
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2006 CU is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2006 CU as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2006 CU orbits the sun every 678 days (1.86 years), coming as close as 0.82 AU and reaching as far as 2.20 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2006 CU is probably between 0.106 to 0.237 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2006 CU'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.

2006 CU has 13 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 11, 2031 20,063,735 8.562
Nov. 20, 2044 24,945,258 9.201
Oct. 29, 2057 26,360,480 9.526
Oct. 6, 2070 22,952,960 8.954
Sept. 16, 2083 15,617,651 8.778
Sept. 8, 2096 11,183,864 9.364
Sept. 15, 2109 14,782,024 8.870
Sept. 21, 2122 17,504,455 8.675
Oct. 14, 2135 24,179,603 9.150
Nov. 7, 2148 26,404,870 9.536
Nov. 30, 2161 23,270,909 8.936
Dec. 22, 2174 16,056,700 8.706
Jan. 1, 2188 10,067,554 9.836

Images and Observations

2006 CU's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 3, 2006. It was last officially observed on Feb. 9, 2019. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 117 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 2006 CU:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.51 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4539
  • Inclination: 3.8°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 148.73°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 253.22°
  • Mean Anomaly: 215.61°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.137 km
  • Magnitude: 22.0

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 678 days (1.86 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 24.23 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.20 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.82 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2006 CU 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 2006 CU 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.