2015 YU7

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2015 YU7

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 29,384,340 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2015 YU7 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2015 YU7 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2015 YU7 orbits the sun every 271 days (0.74 years), coming as close as 0.48 AU and reaching as far as 1.16 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2015 YU7 is probably between 0.141 to 0.316 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

The rotation of 2015 YU7 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 12.22 hours.

Close Approaches

2015 YU7's orbit is 0.01 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2015 YU7 has 43 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 16, 2022 29,384,340 9.344
Feb. 16, 2025 24,420,835 9.057
Feb. 28, 2028 20,767,020 13.458
Dec. 9, 2038 2,281,510 12.339
Dec. 18, 2041 18,456,037 9.291
Jan. 11, 2045 28,920,814 9.349
Feb. 6, 2048 27,928,080 9.089
Feb. 27, 2051 19,126,952 10.464
Feb. 27, 2054 25,869,534 15.360
Dec. 9, 2064 9,801,824 13.894
Dec. 13, 2067 12,165,502 9.872
Jan. 3, 2071 26,599,826 9.279
Jan. 27, 2074 29,622,336 9.271
Feb. 21, 2077 22,545,719 9.266
Feb. 29, 2080 20,517,271 13.361
Dec. 11, 2090 19,558,808 15.948
Dec. 9, 2093 3,778,557 11.226
Dec. 27, 2096 23,834,003 9.194
Jan. 24, 2100 29,726,798 9.283
Feb. 24, 2103 22,214,824 9.310
March 1, 2106 22,315,666 14.162
Dec. 9, 2116 6,753,673 13.266
Dec. 17, 2119 16,189,611 9.423
Jan. 11, 2123 28,659,434 9.317
Feb. 8, 2126 27,860,323 9.060
March 1, 2129 18,689,269 10.812
Feb. 28, 2132 28,517,266 16.146
Dec. 13, 2139 27,232,148 17.602
Dec. 10, 2142 1,752,574 12.164
Dec. 17, 2145 16,682,680 9.398
Jan. 6, 2149 27,437,485 9.286
Jan. 27, 2152 29,902,588 9.270
Feb. 18, 2155 24,835,534 8.993
March 2, 2158 18,267,483 11.517
Feb. 28, 2161 27,652,253 15.933
Dec. 12, 2171 20,706,927 16.196
Dec. 10, 2174 1,356,426 11.931
Dec. 18, 2177 17,510,692 9.329
Jan. 7, 2181 27,758,456 9.283
Jan. 28, 2184 29,790,343 9.244
Feb. 19, 2187 24,323,231 9.008
March 2, 2190 18,028,338 11.731
Feb. 28, 2193 27,779,171 16.053

Images and Observations

2015 YU7's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 15, 2015. It was last officially observed on Feb. 9, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 235 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 YU7:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.8193 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4126
  • Inclination: 7.19°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 254.02°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 44.26°
  • Mean Anomaly: 260.62°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.183 km
  • Magnitude: 21.37

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 271 days (0.74 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 32.89 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.16 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.48 AU
  • Rotation Period: 12.22 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2015 YU7 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 YU7 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.