Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 5,184,927 km of Earth in 2025
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2008 ST is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2008 ST 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.

2008 ST orbits the sun every 346 days (0.95 years), coming as close as 0.84 AU and reaching as far as 1.09 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2008 ST is probably between 0.007 to 0.030 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2008 ST'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.

2008 ST has 6 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
May 20, 2025 5,184,927 2.533
Jan. 5, 2026 21,228,100 4.071
Sept. 26, 2026 14,879,142 6.164
Sept. 25, 2043 18,129,529 6.829
May 21, 2058 15,506,508 6.157
Sept. 25, 2059 1,586,612 3.033

NASA Sentry has assessed impact risk for 64 very close approach scenarios. Here are the top scenarios ordered by probability of impact:

Date Probability of Impact (%) Impact Energy (Mt)
Sept. 25, 2116 0.00649 0.04787
Sept. 24, 2080 0.00242 0.04775
Sept. 26, 2106 0.00105 0.04779
Sept. 25, 2122 0.00051 0.04792
Sept. 25, 2103 0.00050 0.04779
Sept. 24, 2106 0.00040 0.04786
Sept. 25, 2101 0.00039 0.04785
Sept. 28, 2057 0.00020 0.04748
Sept. 25, 2100 0.00019 0.048
Sept. 24, 2122 0.00014 0.04781
Sept. 25, 2117 0.00011 0.04791
Sept. 24, 2116 0.00011 0.04777
Sept. 24, 2107 0.00008 0.04774
Sept. 24, 2116 0.00008 0.04781
Sept. 25, 2078 0.00007 0.04778
Sept. 26, 2104 0.00007 0.04794
Sept. 27, 2056 0.00006 0.04752
Sept. 24, 2100 0.00006 0.04774
Sept. 25, 2101 0.00006 0.04764
March 5, 2096 0.00005 0.04771
Sept. 24, 2116 0.00005 0.04791
Sept. 26, 2105 0.00004 0.04774
Sept. 26, 2103 0.00004 0.04796
Sept. 24, 2097 0.00004 0.04772
Sept. 25, 2119 0.00004 0.04776
Sept. 24, 2109 0.00004 0.04779
Sept. 24, 2109 0.00003 0.04775
Sept. 25, 2110 0.00003 0.04777
Sept. 25, 2104 0.00003 0.04768
Sept. 25, 2102 0.00003 0.04736
Sept. 25, 2115 0.00002 0.04786
Sept. 23, 2096 0.00002 0.04775
Sept. 24, 2101 0.00002 0.04784
Sept. 27, 2072 0.00002 0.04751
Sept. 26, 2093 0.00002 0.0474
Sept. 27, 2072 0.00002 0.04746
Sept. 24, 2103 0.00002 0.04778
Sept. 25, 2114 0.00002 0.04791
Sept. 24, 2095 0.00001 0.04779
Sept. 24, 2113 0.00001 0.04777
Sept. 28, 2053 0.00001 0.0475
Sept. 23, 2114 0.00001 0.04782
Sept. 23, 2081 0.00001 0.04784
Sept. 27, 2060 0.00001 0.04741
Sept. 27, 2052 0.00001 0.04746
Sept. 24, 2119 0.00001 0.04785
Sept. 25, 2120 0.00001 0.0477
Sept. 27, 2070 0.00001 0.04753
Sept. 25, 2117 0.00001 0.04785
Sept. 24, 2119 0.00001 0.04765
Sept. 25, 2117 0.00000 0.04791
March 21, 2106 0.00000 0.04782
July 26, 2082 0.00000 0.04783
Sept. 25, 2091 0.00000 0.04783
Sept. 26, 2118 0.00000 0.04793
Sept. 25, 2116 0.00000 0.04793
Sept. 25, 2102 0.00000 0.04784
Sept. 25, 2115 0.00000 0.0479
Sept. 28, 2071 0.00000 0.04752
Sept. 25, 2113 0.00000 0.0479
March 24, 2048 0.00000 0.04749
Sept. 27, 2073 0.00000 0.0475
Sept. 25, 2105 0.00000 0.04792
Sept. 26, 2119 0.00000 0.0482

Images and Observations

2008 ST's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 22, 2008. It was last officially observed on Sept. 29, 2008. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 49 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2008 ST can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 4.998 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 1,267,720 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2008 ST.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2008 ST:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.964 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1257
  • Inclination: 1.91°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 189.46°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 291.22°
  • Mean Anomaly: 186.04°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.018 km
  • Magnitude: 27.1

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 346 days (0.95 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 30.31 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.09 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.84 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2008 ST 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.