2019 SU3 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2019 SU3 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.
2019 SU3 orbits the sun every 433 days (1.19 years), coming as close as 1.00 AU and reaching as far as 1.24 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2019 SU3 is probably between 0.006 to 0.028 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.
2019 SU3'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.
2019 SU3 has 15 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:
| Date | Distance from Earth (km) | Velocity (km/s) |
|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2019 | 15,858,364 | 1.100 |
| Sept. 24, 2019 | 907,969 | 2.624 |
| July 6, 2038 | 11,171,798 | 4.411 |
| Nov. 26, 2038 | 22,054,147 | 2.204 |
| Aug. 6, 2051 | 2,840,036 | 2.101 |
| June 29, 2064 | 18,360,009 | 5.860 |
| Dec. 10, 2064 | 25,606,729 | 2.962 |
| Sept. 27, 2084 | 3,242,303 | 2.961 |
| July 1, 2090 | 23,155,895 | 6.837 |
| Dec. 16, 2090 | 28,092,476 | 3.291 |
| May 9, 2109 | 25,228,307 | 2.660 |
| Oct. 10, 2109 | 16,802,156 | 5.694 |
| July 14, 2115 | 6,970,871 | 3.502 |
| Nov. 10, 2115 | 18,962,147 | 1.213 |
| July 11, 2134 | 8,964,934 | 3.943 |
2019 SU3's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 23, 2019. It was last officially observed on Oct. 21, 2019. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 150 observations used to determine its orbit.
2019 SU3 can be reached with a journey of 450 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 6.226 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 400,187 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.
See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2019 SU3.
The position of 2019 SU3 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.