2009 FY4

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2009 FY4

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller (0.13 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 26,504,878 km of Earth in 2054
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2009 FY4 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2009 FY4 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2009 FY4 orbits the sun every 372 days (1.02 years), coming as close as 0.68 AU and reaching as far as 1.34 AU from the sun. 2009 FY4 is about 0.1 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2009 FY4's orbit is 0.04 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.

2009 FY4 has 16 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Aug. 18, 2054 26,504,878 14.857
Feb. 27, 2064 16,491,978 12.417
Feb. 27, 2065 6,603,390 14.370
March 2, 2066 19,942,518 16.961
Aug. 14, 2107 27,241,396 15.515
Aug. 25, 2108 27,555,947 14.300
Feb. 28, 2117 23,767,763 11.803
Feb. 27, 2118 8,997,155 13.348
March 2, 2119 11,879,189 15.578
March 4, 2120 27,929,753 18.346
Aug. 11, 2161 28,519,941 16.003
Aug. 22, 2162 26,574,821 14.526
March 2, 2171 28,410,537 11.528
Feb. 28, 2172 13,113,539 12.778
Feb. 28, 2173 7,690,178 14.805
March 4, 2174 22,609,841 17.441

Images and Observations

2009 FY4's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 19, 2009. It was last officially observed on March 10, 2012. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 204 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 2009 FY4:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.013 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3275
  • Inclination: 20.98°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 162.62°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 244.66°
  • Mean Anomaly: 181.23°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.12900 km
  • Magnitude: 21.0
  • Albedo: 0.421

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 372 days (1.02 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.62 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.34 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.68 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2009 FY4 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 2009 FY4 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.