Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 22,376,157 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2013 YT102 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2013 YT102 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.

2013 YT102 orbits the sun every 373 days (1.02 years), coming as close as 0.80 AU and reaching as far as 1.23 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2013 YT102 is probably between 0.027 to 0.059 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2013 YT102's orbit is 0.03 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 YT102 has 23 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
June 23, 2019 22,376,157 7.833
July 11, 2020 11,865,681 8.787
July 22, 2021 17,758,765 11.076
Jan. 1, 2064 26,009,740 13.254
Jan. 4, 2065 8,701,600 10.190
Jan. 4, 2066 11,036,865 7.943
Dec. 24, 2066 26,727,982 7.131
June 28, 2071 19,644,830 7.910
July 13, 2072 11,513,252 9.154
July 24, 2073 20,249,843 11.528
Jan. 2, 2116 29,243,435 13.847
Jan. 4, 2117 11,868,798 10.741
Jan. 5, 2118 8,069,594 8.314
Dec. 28, 2118 23,806,029 7.152
June 26, 2123 21,311,434 7.863
July 13, 2124 11,731,534 8.943
July 24, 2125 18,983,021 11.278
Jan. 4, 2168 18,671,173 11.945
Jan. 5, 2169 5,036,821 9.089
Jan. 2, 2170 18,507,592 7.333
June 19, 2174 24,786,546 7.863
July 10, 2175 13,339,088 8.497
July 21, 2176 15,661,405 10.577

Images and Observations

2013 YT102's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 31, 2013. It was last officially observed on Dec. 23, 2014. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 79 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 YT102:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.013 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.2093
  • Inclination: 12.75°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 278.25°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 286.03°
  • Mean Anomaly: 102.78°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.034 km
  • Magnitude: 25.0

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 373 days (1.02 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.55 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.23 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.80 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2013 YT102 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 YT102 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.