Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 21,684,815 km of Earth in 2026
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2014 ST223 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2014 ST223 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.

2014 ST223 orbits the sun every 395 days (1.08 years), coming as close as 0.87 AU and reaching as far as 1.23 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2014 ST223 is probably between 0.005 to 0.023 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2014 ST223'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 ST223 has 7 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 23, 2026 21,684,815 10.233
Sept. 24, 2041 11,138,632 8.272
March 29, 2053 2,866,158 6.403
Sept. 17, 2054 8,370,144 4.900
March 24, 2080 19,727,713 9.863
July 27, 2081 23,191,687 4.853
Oct. 21, 2081 27,087,912 4.073

Images and Observations

2014 ST223's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 23, 2014. It was last officially observed on Oct. 15, 2014. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 45 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2014 ST223 can be reached with a journey of 394 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 7.654 km/s. To put this into perspective, the delta-v to launch a rocket to Low-Earth Orbit is 9.7 km/s. There are 127,489 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2014 ST223.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2014 ST223:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.053 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1704
  • Inclination: 5.88°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 359.92°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 273.56°
  • Mean Anomaly: 175.15°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.014 km
  • Magnitude: 27.6

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 395 days (1.08 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.00 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.23 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.87 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2014 ST223 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.