2013 WR43

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2013 WR43

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 24,302,146 km of Earth in 2045
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2013 WR43 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2013 WR43 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2013 WR43 orbits the sun every 614 days (1.68 years), coming as close as 0.89 AU and reaching as far as 1.93 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2013 WR43 is probably between 0.116 to 0.259 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2013 WR43's orbit is 0.02 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.

2013 WR43 has 15 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
June 5, 2045 24,302,146 13.932
June 30, 2050 9,030,443 8.091
Sept. 6, 2055 19,859,907 7.558
Oct. 19, 2060 24,156,978 12.709
June 12, 2087 11,543,724 11.436
July 22, 2092 16,905,633 7.739
Sept. 28, 2097 16,783,908 7.672
June 13, 2129 11,838,803 11.512
July 20, 2134 15,999,330 7.682
Sept. 22, 2139 18,163,354 7.397
Oct. 22, 2144 26,147,404 13.245
June 6, 2171 27,846,503 14.624
June 26, 2176 5,989,736 8.553
Sept. 3, 2181 20,349,390 7.615
Oct. 21, 2186 23,083,799 12.484

Images and Observations

2013 WR43's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 21, 2013. It was last officially observed on Dec. 6, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 55 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 2013 WR43:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.413 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.367
  • Inclination: 5.9°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 280.17°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 42.21°
  • Mean Anomaly: 356.03°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.150 km
  • Magnitude: 21.8

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 614 days (1.68 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 25.04 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.93 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.89 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2013 WR43 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 2013 WR43 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.