2011 EH17

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2011 EH17

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 5,110,320 km of Earth in 2021
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2011 EH17 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2011 EH17 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.

2011 EH17 orbits the sun every 228 days (0.62 years), coming as close as 0.25 AU and reaching as far as 1.21 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2011 EH17 is probably between 0.029 to 0.064 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2011 EH17'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.

2011 EH17 has 58 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 2, 2021 5,110,320 16.624
April 23, 2023 16,203,129 15.166
March 2, 2026 6,069,350 16.452
April 23, 2028 14,938,474 15.367
March 3, 2031 8,018,006 16.121
April 24, 2033 13,753,780 15.570
March 2, 2036 9,245,051 15.925
April 24, 2038 12,809,311 15.736
March 3, 2041 10,932,987 15.650
April 25, 2043 10,859,530 16.118
March 4, 2046 14,346,765 15.151
April 25, 2048 8,136,206 16.842
March 6, 2051 17,673,459 14.747
April 25, 2053 6,922,968 17.613
March 8, 2056 20,982,826 14.437
April 26, 2058 8,320,956 18.638
March 11, 2061 24,546,496 14.215
April 25, 2063 12,843,685 19.973
March 15, 2066 27,715,469 14.109
April 24, 2068 18,961,625 21.480
April 22, 2073 26,320,795 23.216
March 6, 2089 28,231,401 23.729
March 4, 2094 20,211,231 21.910
April 11, 2096 28,723,816 14.105
March 3, 2099 13,051,877 20.323
April 16, 2101 25,864,459 14.205
March 3, 2104 6,751,782 18.958
April 20, 2106 23,014,698 14.384
March 3, 2109 2,912,399 18.119
April 21, 2111 21,734,471 14.485
March 3, 2114 2,636,014 18.041
April 20, 2116 22,637,886 14.410
March 4, 2119 6,861,769 18.964
April 17, 2121 25,779,340 14.220
March 4, 2124 13,800,384 20.477
April 13, 2126 28,856,828 14.097
March 5, 2129 20,680,471 22.017
March 7, 2134 27,911,172 23.665
April 23, 2148 28,706,673 23.794
April 25, 2153 21,643,372 22.136
March 17, 2156 28,523,682 14.096
April 27, 2158 14,477,408 20.416
March 13, 2161 25,236,185 14.174
April 28, 2163 9,448,538 19.074
March 11, 2166 22,409,849 14.341
April 27, 2168 7,091,795 18.169
March 9, 2171 19,689,540 14.565
April 27, 2173 6,771,952 17.481
March 7, 2176 17,380,965 14.786
April 28, 2178 7,745,282 16.924
March 6, 2181 14,834,149 15.075
April 27, 2183 9,719,533 16.354
March 5, 2186 12,063,737 15.465
April 26, 2188 12,178,535 15.837
March 4, 2191 8,273,534 16.095
April 25, 2193 15,493,533 15.263
March 3, 2196 5,080,807 16.681
April 24, 2198 16,861,030 15.040

Images and Observations

2011 EH17's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 6, 2011. It was last officially observed on April 18, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 66 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 2011 EH17:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.7309 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.6599
  • Inclination: 3.0°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 333.04°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 36.01°
  • Mean Anomaly: 113.98°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.037 km
  • Magnitude: 24.84

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 228 days (0.62 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 34.88 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.21 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.25 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2011 EH17 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 2011 EH17 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.