2019 WL4

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2019 WL4

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 15,906,110 km of Earth in 2031
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2019 WL4 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2019 WL4 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2019 WL4 orbits the sun every 476 days (1.30 years), coming as close as 0.53 AU and reaching as far as 1.86 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2019 WL4 is probably between 0.127 to 0.283 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2019 WL4's orbit is 0.01 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.

2019 WL4 has 11 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 14, 2031 15,906,110 21.462
Oct. 21, 2032 20,460,724 14.392
March 18, 2044 2,171,764 18.547
Oct. 25, 2045 9,624,021 16.771
March 17, 2057 6,228,248 19.465
Oct. 24, 2058 14,605,435 15.639
March 12, 2070 22,556,179 22.810
March 15, 2174 20,541,557 22.417
Oct. 22, 2175 24,291,340 13.672
March 23, 2187 8,830,886 16.577
Oct. 30, 2188 9,400,937 19.683

Images and Observations

2019 WL4's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 10, 2014. It was last officially observed on Feb. 12, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 43 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 2019 WL4:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.193 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5578
  • Inclination: 4.87°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 186.25°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 99.93°
  • Mean Anomaly: 45.76°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.163 km
  • Magnitude: 21.61

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 476 days (1.30 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 27.27 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.86 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.53 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2019 WL4 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 2019 WL4 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.