2011 EL51

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2011 EL51

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 8,921,115 km of Earth in 2037
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2011 EL51 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2011 EL51 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2011 EL51 orbits the sun every 475 days (1.30 years), coming as close as 0.51 AU and reaching as far as 1.87 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2011 EL51 is probably between 0.111 to 0.248 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2011 EL51's orbit is 0.05 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.

2011 EL51 has 13 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 27, 2037 8,921,115 18.210
Oct. 31, 2038 14,032,937 17.652
Nov. 10, 2073 24,432,320 23.569
March 29, 2085 14,722,497 16.791
Nov. 2, 2086 11,639,517 18.817
March 24, 2098 10,385,619 20.869
Oct. 26, 2099 26,590,122 14.727
March 19, 2111 27,829,951 24.632
March 31, 2133 16,109,289 16.496
Nov. 4, 2134 11,706,373 19.035
March 24, 2146 13,219,778 21.551
April 3, 2168 25,468,762 14.657
Nov. 7, 2169 13,925,958 20.700

Images and Observations

2011 EL51's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 11, 2011. It was last officially observed on March 27, 2011. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 32 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 EL51:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2455636.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.191 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5683
  • Inclination: 10.97°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 198.62°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 94.69°
  • Mean Anomaly: 305.27°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.143 km
  • Magnitude: 21.9

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 475 days (1.30 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 27.28 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.87 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.51 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2011 EL51 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 EL51 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.