2017 YW3 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2017 YW3 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 YW3 orbits the sun every 418 days (1.14 years), coming as close as 0.97 AU and reaching as far as 1.22 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2017 YW3 is probably between 0.009 to 0.039 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.
2017 YW3's orbit is 0.01 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.
2017 YW3 has 16 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:
| Date | Distance from Earth (km) | Velocity (km/s) |
|---|---|---|
| July 3, 2025 | 24,271,807 | 3.120 |
| Dec. 31, 2025 | 18,119,715 | 6.088 |
| Sept. 5, 2048 | 25,015,989 | 7.177 |
| March 19, 2049 | 27,087,986 | 3.388 |
| Sept. 18, 2056 | 6,718,285 | 2.952 |
| Feb. 5, 2057 | 17,918,718 | 1.797 |
| Sept. 9, 2064 | 14,794,803 | 5.032 |
| March 4, 2065 | 23,222,612 | 2.818 |
| April 10, 2073 | 29,283,639 | 3.836 |
| June 17, 2089 | 26,560,350 | 3.516 |
| Jan. 5, 2090 | 26,753,386 | 7.795 |
| July 25, 2097 | 19,169,456 | 2.303 |
| Dec. 25, 2097 | 6,122,898 | 3.690 |
| Jan. 5, 2106 | 26,925,045 | 7.831 |
| Sept. 10, 2144 | 19,021,574 | 5.915 |
| March 15, 2145 | 24,883,621 | 3.092 |
2017 YW3's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 24, 2017. It was last officially observed on Feb. 5, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 53 observations used to determine its orbit.
2017 YW3 can be reached with a journey of 378 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 6.324 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 394,842 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.
See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2017 YW3.
The position of 2017 YW3 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.