2009 WY7

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2009 WY7

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 18,362,557 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2009 WY7 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2009 WY7 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.

2009 WY7 orbits the sun every 191 days (0.52 years), coming as close as 0.25 AU and reaching as far as 1.05 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2009 WY7 is probably between 0.040 to 0.090 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

The rotation of 2009 WY7 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 0.21 hours.

Close Approaches

2009 WY7'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.

2009 WY7 has 51 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 7, 2019 18,362,557 17.494
Nov. 24, 2020 7,754,843 12.106
Nov. 2, 2021 7,348,192 14.696
Dec. 7, 2030 18,857,044 17.611
Nov. 25, 2031 7,692,080 12.113
Nov. 1, 2032 7,330,270 14.702
Dec. 7, 2041 12,062,413 15.982
Nov. 19, 2042 8,676,979 12.033
Nov. 1, 2043 13,696,055 16.342
Dec. 6, 2052 5,057,476 14.343
Nov. 12, 2053 7,641,473 12.215
Nov. 1, 2054 20,467,565 18.039
Dec. 6, 2063 3,154,916 13.897
Nov. 10, 2064 7,030,969 12.321
Nov. 1, 2065 21,819,296 18.383
Dec. 7, 2074 7,127,868 14.828
Nov. 15, 2075 8,189,023 12.108
Nov. 1, 2076 16,948,220 17.178
Dec. 7, 2085 11,972,449 15.965
Nov. 20, 2086 8,575,943 12.022
Nov. 2, 2087 12,069,906 15.958
Dec. 7, 2096 16,925,500 17.159
Nov. 24, 2097 7,965,668 12.084
Nov. 2, 2098 7,919,204 14.835
Dec. 7, 2108 23,387,279 18.661
Dec. 2, 2109 3,934,523 12.611
Nov. 8, 2110 4,421,581 12.816
Nov. 4, 2111 24,834,085 19.088
Dec. 6, 2121 3,233,977 13.848
Nov. 15, 2122 7,388,725 12.147
Nov. 3, 2123 15,384,682 16.726
Dec. 8, 2133 14,386,709 16.462
Nov. 25, 2134 7,390,327 12.097
Nov. 4, 2135 5,055,262 14.084
Dec. 7, 2145 27,148,899 19.584
Dec. 4, 2146 2,140,443 13.046
Nov. 11, 2147 5,725,617 12.446
Nov. 3, 2148 20,756,743 18.062
Dec. 9, 2156 18,789,582 17.664
Nov. 3, 2158 11,401,759 15.830
Dec. 8, 2166 24,726,078 19.091
Nov. 3, 2168 6,692,464 14.629
Dec. 7, 2176 28,427,676 19.991
Dec. 1, 2177 5,821,054 12.408
Nov. 4, 2178 5,001,963 14.128
Dec. 9, 2186 25,628,338 19.324
Nov. 29, 2187 7,317,699 12.224
Nov. 3, 2188 7,911,690 14.945
Dec. 9, 2196 12,685,609 16.196
Nov. 17, 2197 8,921,843 12.070
Nov. 3, 2198 21,390,241 18.346

Images and Observations

2009 WY7's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 19, 2009. It was last officially observed on Nov. 25, 2020. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 144 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 WY7:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.6498 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.6087
  • Inclination: 4.03°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 63.99°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 172.41°
  • Mean Anomaly: 321.81°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.052 km
  • Magnitude: 24.1

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 191 days (0.52 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 37.01 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.05 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.25 AU
  • Rotation Period: 0.21 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2009 WY7 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 WY7 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.