2012 UU136

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2012 UU136

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 27,109,221 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2012 UU136 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2012 UU136 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2012 UU136 orbits the sun every 456 days (1.25 years), coming as close as 0.91 AU and reaching as far as 1.41 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2012 UU136 is probably between 0.136 to 0.305 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2012 UU136's orbit is 0.04 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.

2012 UU136 has 10 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
May 4, 2022 27,109,221 19.051
May 4, 2027 25,933,449 19.051
May 3, 2032 25,359,006 19.051
May 4, 2037 25,525,851 19.049
May 4, 2042 26,552,087 19.049
May 5, 2047 28,381,112 19.055
April 18, 2181 28,826,141 21.848
April 19, 2186 25,146,237 21.499
April 20, 2191 22,389,257 21.247
April 20, 2196 20,975,689 21.119

Images and Observations

2012 UU136's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 8, 2002. It was last officially observed on Nov. 16, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 91 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 2012 UU136:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.16 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.2119
  • Inclination: 35.59°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 36.08°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 227.71°
  • Mean Anomaly: 357.77°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.176 km
  • Magnitude: 21.45

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 456 days (1.25 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 27.67 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.41 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.91 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2012 UU136 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 2012 UU136 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.