2018 LK

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2018 LK

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 26,727,039 km of Earth in 2029
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2018 LK is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2018 LK as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2018 LK orbits the sun every 403 days (1.10 years), coming as close as 0.73 AU and reaching as far as 1.41 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2018 LK is probably between 0.119 to 0.265 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

The rotation of 2018 LK has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 0.12 hours.

Close Approaches

2018 LK's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is very close to Earth's orbit.

2018 LK has 20 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
June 22, 2029 26,727,039 8.296
Dec. 23, 2041 9,081,616 11.235
June 12, 2050 13,285,002 14.165
Jan. 2, 2053 21,428,267 15.605
June 19, 2061 9,609,256 10.473
Dec. 12, 2073 23,776,849 9.178
June 9, 2082 26,471,054 16.471
Dec. 28, 2084 10,680,841 13.472
June 17, 2093 4,742,335 11.216
Dec. 22, 2105 12,258,047 10.627
June 16, 2114 5,858,379 12.895
June 23, 2125 27,770,084 8.209
Dec. 26, 2137 7,148,243 12.102
June 16, 2146 4,318,053 12.638
Jan. 5, 2149 28,222,431 16.863
June 21, 2157 12,951,267 9.992
Dec. 5, 2169 29,642,314 8.933
Dec. 23, 2180 10,834,637 10.951
June 11, 2189 21,812,976 15.647
Dec. 31, 2191 11,662,860 13.616

Images and Observations

2018 LK's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 16, 2018. It was last officially observed on Jan. 2, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 185 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 LK:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.068 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3166
  • Inclination: 13.93°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 85.16°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 279.94°
  • Mean Anomaly: 207.77°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.153 km
  • Magnitude: 21.75

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 403 days (1.10 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 28.83 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.41 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.73 AU
  • Rotation Period: 0.12 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2018 LK 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 LK 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.