2015 DR215

Very small Interior-Earth Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Interior-Earth Asteroids » 2015 DR215

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Interior-Earth Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 6,700,177 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2015 DR215 is a very small asteroid with an orbit that is entirely confined within Earth's orbit. NASA JPL has classified 2015 DR215 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2015 DR215 orbits the sun every 199 days (0.54 years), coming as close as 0.35 AU and reaching as far as 0.98 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2015 DR215 is probably between 0.221 to 0.494 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2015 DR215's orbit is 0.04 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is an wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

2015 DR215 has 31 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 11, 2022 6,700,177 8.313
March 22, 2028 8,505,157 8.486
March 30, 2034 13,986,715 10.347
April 1, 2040 22,915,171 12.957
March 1, 2047 20,326,754 12.726
March 1, 2053 12,055,254 10.521
March 5, 2059 7,803,166 9.157
March 9, 2065 6,663,021 8.446
March 15, 2071 7,052,103 8.182
March 22, 2077 8,425,482 8.481
March 29, 2083 11,646,607 9.625
April 1, 2089 17,036,140 11.334
April 2, 2095 25,260,799 13.635
March 2, 2096 28,926,824 14.875
March 2, 2102 20,049,856 12.639
March 3, 2108 12,048,010 10.484
March 7, 2114 7,487,611 8.998
March 12, 2120 6,775,761 8.279
March 22, 2126 7,887,990 8.310
March 29, 2132 10,442,693 9.232
April 2, 2138 15,533,060 10.914
April 2, 2144 23,900,998 13.285
March 3, 2151 20,994,788 12.867
March 3, 2157 12,272,876 10.539
March 7, 2163 7,604,607 9.022
March 14, 2169 6,895,107 8.228
March 24, 2175 8,228,574 8.422
March 31, 2181 11,274,643 9.558
April 3, 2187 17,607,027 11.559
April 3, 2193 26,482,910 14.006
March 3, 2194 27,573,325 14.536

Images and Observations

2015 DR215's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 18, 2015. It was last officially observed on Jan. 13, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 44 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 2015 DR215:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2459396.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.6664 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4716
  • Inclination: 4.09°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 314.95°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 42.28°
  • Mean Anomaly: 64.88°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.285 km
  • Magnitude: 20.4

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 199 days (0.54 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 36.43 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 0.98 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.35 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2015 DR215 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 2015 DR215 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.