2015 DR215

Very small Interior-Earth Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
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Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Interior-Earth Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 6,700,200 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 0.232 to 0.518 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 6,700,200 8.313
March 22, 2028 8,505,285 8.486
March 30, 2034 13,987,193 10.347
April 1, 2040 22,915,972 12.957
March 1, 2047 20,325,835 12.726
March 1, 2053 12,054,514 10.521
March 5, 2059 7,802,802 9.156
March 9, 2065 6,663,006 8.446
March 15, 2071 7,052,253 8.182
March 23, 2077 8,425,865 8.481
March 29, 2083 11,647,658 9.626
April 1, 2089 17,037,602 11.335
April 2, 2095 25,262,118 13.635
March 2, 2096 28,925,472 14.875
March 2, 2102 20,049,294 12.639
March 3, 2108 12,048,216 10.484
March 7, 2114 7,487,961 8.998
March 12, 2120 6,775,560 8.279
March 22, 2126 7,886,854 8.310
March 29, 2132 10,439,029 9.230
April 2, 2138 15,526,349 10.912
April 2, 2144 23,892,966 13.283
March 3, 2151 21,000,934 12.868
March 3, 2157 12,275,076 10.540
March 7, 2163 7,604,235 9.022
March 14, 2169 6,895,584 8.228
March 24, 2175 8,230,881 8.423
March 31, 2181 11,284,881 9.562
April 3, 2187 17,633,592 11.567
April 3, 2193 26,521,569 14.016
March 3, 2194 27,531,797 14.525

Images and Observations

2015 DR215's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 18, 2015. It was last officially observed on March 28, 2016. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 41 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: 2459000.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.6664 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4715
  • Inclination: 4.09°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 314.95°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 42.28°
  • Mean Anomaly: 67.41°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.299 km
  • Magnitude: 20.3

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

Size Comparison

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.