2010 VD72

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2010 VD72

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller (0.12 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 27,856,066 km of Earth in 2025
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2010 VD72 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2010 VD72 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2010 VD72 orbits the sun every 321 days (0.88 years), coming as close as 0.75 AU and reaching as far as 1.08 AU from the sun. 2010 VD72 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

2010 VD72's orbit is 0.01 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.

2010 VD72 has 16 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Nov. 5, 2025 27,856,066 13.992
Nov. 6, 2032 9,141,384 10.130
Nov. 7, 2047 13,207,373 11.986
Nov. 2, 2054 25,309,992 9.985
Nov. 7, 2069 3,456,950 10.914
Nov. 2, 2076 24,915,375 9.976
Nov. 7, 2091 17,706,718 12.553
Nov. 6, 2098 14,343,234 9.953
Nov. 7, 2113 20,842,576 12.975
Nov. 6, 2120 14,095,199 9.960
Nov. 8, 2135 19,211,684 12.742
Nov. 7, 2142 14,146,086 9.960
Nov. 7, 2157 23,288,796 13.298
Nov. 7, 2164 12,010,344 10.020
Nov. 8, 2179 15,379,680 12.222
Nov. 5, 2186 21,562,866 9.922

Images and Observations

2010 VD72's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 9, 2010. It was last officially observed on Sept. 27, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 88 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 2010 VD72:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9184 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1812
  • Inclination: 19.2°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 224.08°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 310.24°
  • Mean Anomaly: 100.18°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.12400 km
  • Magnitude: 21.53
  • Albedo: 0.290

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 321 days (0.88 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 31.13 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.08 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.75 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2010 VD72 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 2010 VD72 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.