2017 WT28

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
• Will pass within 13,897,619 km of Earth in 2024
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

2017 WT28 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2017 WT28 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 WT28 orbits the sun every 312 days (0.85 years), coming as close as 0.78 AU and reaching as far as 1.02 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2017 WT28 is probably between 0.004 to 0.019 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2017 WT28'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 WT28 has 10 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

NASA Sentry has assessed impact risk for 113 very close approach scenarios. Here are the top scenarios ordered by probability of impact:

Images and Observations

2017 WT28's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 27, 2017. It was last officially observed on Dec. 16, 2017. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 28 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2017 WT28 can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 7.41 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 103,616 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2017 WT28.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2017 WT28:

• 96590 (1998 XB)
• 152563 (1992 BF)
• 153415 (2001 QP153)

References

• JPL Small Body Database
• Mission Design
• Sky Finder Chart

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2017 WT28 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.