2018 AN2

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2018 AN2

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 9,643,408 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2018 AN2 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2018 AN2 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.

2018 AN2 orbits the sun every 366 days (1.00 years), coming as close as 0.85 AU and reaching as far as 1.16 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2018 AN2 is probably between 0.029 to 0.065 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2018 AN2'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.

2018 AN2 has 22 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 13, 2019 9,643,408 11.786
Jan. 13, 2020 11,329,742 11.696
Jan. 12, 2021 13,386,681 11.613
Jan. 12, 2022 15,773,315 11.520
Jan. 12, 2023 18,447,574 11.457
Jan. 12, 2024 21,355,814 11.416
Jan. 11, 2025 24,393,416 11.393
Jan. 11, 2026 27,568,757 11.411
June 30, 2035 29,002,737 11.753
July 2, 2036 25,940,679 11.729
July 4, 2037 23,018,208 11.733
July 6, 2038 20,231,404 11.769
July 8, 2039 17,697,880 11.826
July 9, 2040 15,467,157 11.910
July 11, 2041 13,527,341 12.010
July 12, 2042 11,968,232 12.124
July 14, 2043 10,821,198 12.255
July 14, 2044 10,146,931 12.388
July 16, 2045 9,973,163 12.547
July 17, 2046 10,382,289 12.729
July 19, 2047 11,477,906 12.945
July 19, 2048 13,247,467 13.220

Images and Observations

2018 AN2's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 12, 2018. It was last officially observed on Jan. 19, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 48 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 2018 AN2:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.002 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1543
  • Inclination: 22.07°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 290.07°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 284.32°
  • Mean Anomaly: 147.22°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.038 km
  • Magnitude: 24.8

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 366 days (1.00 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.78 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.16 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.85 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2018 AN2 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 2018 AN2 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.