2017 UY5

Small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2017 UY5

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge
  • Will pass within 24,610,138 km of Earth in 2023
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2017 UY5 is a small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2017 UY5 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2017 UY5 orbits the sun every 935 days (2.56 years), coming as close as 0.90 AU and reaching as far as 2.85 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2017 UY5 is probably between 0.464 to 1.038 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Close Approaches

2017 UY5's orbit is 0.03 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.

2017 UY5 has 6 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 12, 2023 24,610,138 11.443
Nov. 22, 2063 26,745,452 17.011
Dec. 5, 2086 6,536,189 13.537
Nov. 30, 2109 13,500,815 14.771
Jan. 21, 2161 27,756,949 11.318
Dec. 25, 2183 14,660,805 11.488

Images and Observations

2017 UY5's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 13, 2000. It was last officially observed on May 21, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 405 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 2017 UY5:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.871 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5215
  • Inclination: 14.45°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 81.38°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 32.62°
  • Mean Anomaly: 91.69°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.599 km
  • Magnitude: 18.79

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 935 days (2.56 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 21.77 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.85 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.90 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2017 UY5 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 above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 2017 UY5 to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.