2015 DU is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2015 DU 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.
2015 DU orbits the sun every 422 days (1.16 years), coming as close as 1.01 AU and reaching as far as 1.20 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2015 DU is probably between 0.008 to 0.037 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.
The rotation of 2015 DU has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 0.08 hours.
2015 DU's orbit is 0.02 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.
2015 DU has 22 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:
| Date | Distance from Earth (km) | Velocity (km/s) |
|---|---|---|
| July 27, 2022 | 27,339,433 | 3.464 |
| Oct. 19, 2029 | 21,663,268 | 2.661 |
| Jan. 31, 2037 | 24,369,588 | 5.247 |
| May 26, 2037 | 20,216,879 | 1.841 |
| Aug. 31, 2044 | 27,136,315 | 3.599 |
| Feb. 27, 2052 | 3,442,404 | 1.867 |
| Feb. 16, 2059 | 8,413,439 | 2.264 |
| July 12, 2066 | 26,308,109 | 3.184 |
| Sept. 6, 2073 | 27,583,493 | 3.663 |
| Nov. 11, 2080 | 19,346,099 | 2.019 |
| March 12, 2081 | 22,078,260 | 5.194 |
| Feb. 14, 2088 | 11,183,267 | 2.748 |
| Aug. 7, 2095 | 27,597,676 | 3.574 |
| Feb. 8, 2110 | 19,459,166 | 4.322 |
| Aug. 27, 2117 | 27,484,236 | 3.656 |
| March 6, 2125 | 11,053,760 | 3.054 |
| Feb. 4, 2132 | 27,986,869 | 6.039 |
| June 9, 2132 | 21,700,763 | 2.187 |
| Aug. 17, 2139 | 28,077,277 | 3.674 |
| Oct. 18, 2146 | 23,226,383 | 2.872 |
| Feb. 19, 2154 | 6,148,663 | 1.969 |
| March 3, 2192 | 8,099,822 | 2.486 |
2015 DU's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 8, 2015. It was last officially observed on April 13, 2015. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 98 observations used to determine its orbit.
2015 DU can be reached with a journey of 362 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 6.069 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 541,030 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.
See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2015 DU.
The position of 2015 DU 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.