Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 25,962,863 km of Earth in 2035
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2018 WV1 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2018 WV1 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 WV1 orbits the sun every 387 days (1.06 years), coming as close as 0.98 AU and reaching as far as 1.10 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2018 WV1 is probably between 0.002 to 0.007 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2018 WV1'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 WV1 has 10 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
July 29, 2035 25,962,863 6.510
April 20, 2036 14,754,287 2.234
Dec. 11, 2036 17,554,648 5.037
Oct. 13, 2053 4,330,323 1.341
July 24, 2071 17,802,234 4.867
March 26, 2072 14,529,410 2.173
Dec. 7, 2072 22,378,897 5.982
Jan. 14, 2091 10,167,529 1.229
July 17, 2109 23,830,872 6.063
Dec. 1, 2110 12,996,823 4.121

Images and Observations

2018 WV1's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 29, 2018. It was last officially observed on Dec. 13, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 90 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2018 WV1 can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 4.51 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 794,962 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2018 WV1.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2018 WV1:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.04 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.0603
  • Inclination: 1.65°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 246.38°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 145.91°
  • Mean Anomaly: 216.69°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.004 km
  • Magnitude: 30.3

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 387 days (1.06 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.24 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.10 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.98 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2018 WV1 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.