2014 MJ6

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2014 MJ6

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 13,583,797 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2014 MJ6 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2014 MJ6 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2014 MJ6 orbits the sun every 914 days (2.50 years), coming as close as 0.66 AU and reaching as far as 3.03 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2014 MJ6 is probably between 0.120 to 0.268 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2014 MJ6's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2014 MJ6 has 13 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
July 18, 2019 13,583,797 15.854
July 19, 2024 16,209,001 15.344
July 23, 2029 21,381,085 14.401
July 26, 2034 25,125,546 13.738
July 31, 2039 29,228,340 13.146
Dec. 13, 2109 24,677,287 13.697
Dec. 18, 2114 18,869,769 14.704
Dec. 22, 2119 13,477,665 15.747
Dec. 23, 2124 9,869,959 16.497
Dec. 23, 2129 11,846,686 16.123
Dec. 20, 2134 16,206,762 15.266
Dec. 19, 2139 19,277,769 14.642
Dec. 13, 2144 24,529,296 13.744

Images and Observations

2014 MJ6's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 21, 2014. It was last officially observed on July 14, 2019. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 71 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 2014 MJ6:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.843 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.6421
  • Inclination: 4.49°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 271.47°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 102.58°
  • Mean Anomaly: 218.77°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.155 km
  • Magnitude: 21.73

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 914 days (2.50 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 21.94 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 3.03 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.66 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2014 MJ6 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 2014 MJ6 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.