Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 28,029,505 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2016 HF2 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2016 HF2 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.

2016 HF2 orbits the sun every 359 days (0.98 years), coming as close as 0.80 AU and reaching as far as 1.18 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2016 HF2 is probably between 0.010 to 0.047 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2016 HF2's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2016 HF2 has 10 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
July 1, 2019 28,029,505 4.818
Dec. 26, 2019 29,803,479 6.305
July 28, 2020 27,267,752 4.489
Nov. 29, 2020 26,157,416 5.719
Oct. 26, 2021 18,124,016 4.368
Sept. 29, 2022 7,343,638 5.551
Sept. 22, 2023 15,923,068 8.500
April 25, 2070 17,465,156 9.166
April 22, 2071 1,592,201 6.215
April 21, 2072 6,775,199 4.795

Images and Observations

2016 HF2's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 25, 2016. It was last officially observed on May 4, 2016. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 77 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2016 HF2 can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 6.579 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 248,448 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2016 HF2.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2016 HF2:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9883 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1955
  • Inclination: 5.13°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 33.72°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 70.34°
  • Mean Anomaly: 273.19°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.029 km
  • Magnitude: 26.1

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 359 days (0.98 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.95 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.18 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.80 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2016 HF2 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 2016 HF2 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.