2011 UH20

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2011 UH20

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 12,488,912 km of Earth in 2033
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2011 UH20 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2011 UH20 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2011 UH20 orbits the sun every 499 days (1.37 years), coming as close as 0.82 AU and reaching as far as 1.64 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2011 UH20 is probably between 0.160 to 0.358 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2011 UH20'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.

2011 UH20 has 16 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
April 8, 2033 12,488,912 22.289
April 12, 2048 3,427,554 20.757
Oct. 7, 2052 26,091,556 19.233
Oct. 10, 2067 27,265,034 21.892
April 5, 2074 27,350,061 24.082
April 12, 2089 3,236,208 20.777
Oct. 7, 2093 24,522,495 19.505
April 13, 2115 2,946,858 21.245
Oct. 9, 2119 29,185,568 18.852
April 19, 2130 25,799,813 19.068
Oct. 10, 2134 23,783,639 21.097
April 11, 2156 5,750,803 21.562
April 17, 2171 13,667,509 19.856
Oct. 9, 2175 22,934,232 19.816
Oct. 12, 2190 27,200,527 21.957
April 5, 2197 29,624,085 24.397

Images and Observations

2011 UH20's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 18, 2011. It was last officially observed on Oct. 7, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 95 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 UH20:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.231 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.336
  • Inclination: 35.78°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 21.61°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 257.15°
  • Mean Anomaly: 316.37°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.207 km
  • Magnitude: 21.1

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 499 days (1.37 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 26.84 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.64 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.82 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2011 UH20 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 UH20 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.