Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 19,202,482 km of Earth in 2021
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

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.

Close Approaches

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

Images and Observations

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.

Accessibility and Exploration

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.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2017 DA36:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.217 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.2646
  • Inclination: 4.59°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 167.37°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 59.91°
  • Mean Anomaly: 270.19°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.046 km
  • Magnitude: 25.1

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 490 days (1.34 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 27.02 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.54 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.89 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

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.

Size Rendering

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.