2015 EO61

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2015 EO61

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 13,266,654 km of Earth in 2034
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2015 EO61 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2015 EO61 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2015 EO61 orbits the sun every 641 days (1.75 years), coming as close as 0.39 AU and reaching as far as 2.52 AU from the sun. Its orbit is highly elliptical. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2015 EO61 is probably between 0.139 to 0.310 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2015 EO61's orbit is 0.01 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 EO61 has 14 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Nov. 19, 2034 13,266,654 22.352
Nov. 26, 2041 11,721,451 27.349
March 23, 2059 24,133,675 29.845
March 29, 2066 3,707,034 25.462
April 2, 2073 13,949,322 22.298
Nov. 18, 2120 21,742,431 20.678
Nov. 22, 2127 11,443,008 22.715
Nov. 24, 2134 2,942,770 24.518
Nov. 25, 2141 1,873,452 25.130
Nov. 27, 2148 9,747,288 26.925
Dec. 2, 2155 21,313,385 29.352
March 25, 2180 20,792,916 29.212
March 29, 2187 8,750,972 26.706
March 31, 2194 3,238,326 25.407

Images and Observations

2015 EO61's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 18, 2001. It was last officially observed on March 27, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 54 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 EO61:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.455 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.7342
  • Inclination: 1.98°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 43.64°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 261.37°
  • Mean Anomaly: 254.21°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.179 km
  • Magnitude: 21.41

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 641 days (1.75 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 24.69 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.52 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.39 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2015 EO61 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 EO61 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.