2017 DA36 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2017 DA36 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.
2017 DA36 orbits the sun every 490 days (1.34 years), coming as close as 0.89 AU and reaching as far as 1.54 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2017 DA36 is probably between 0.017 to 0.074 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.
2017 DA36'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.
2017 DA36 has 9 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:
Date | Distance from Earth (km) | Velocity (km/s) |
---|---|---|
April 30, 2021 | 19,202,482 | 6.010 |
July 6, 2025 | 13,679,237 | 5.491 |
July 25, 2029 | 18,157,186 | 10.238 |
March 1, 2060 | 14,223,710 | 10.186 |
March 19, 2064 | 8,896,973 | 5.930 |
May 20, 2068 | 20,028,904 | 5.950 |
July 17, 2072 | 9,813,791 | 7.130 |
July 29, 2076 | 29,013,943 | 12.570 |
May 27, 2111 | 19,842,687 | 5.864 |
2017 DA36's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 16, 2017. It was last officially observed on March 11, 2017. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 137 observations used to determine its orbit.
2017 DA36 can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 8.674 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 10,662 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.
See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2017 DA36.
The position of 2017 DA36 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.
The below comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 2017 DA36 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.