2020 AD3

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2020 AD3

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 10,426,243 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2020 AD3 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2020 AD3 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2020 AD3 orbits the sun every 356 days (0.97 years), coming as close as 0.40 AU and reaching as far as 1.57 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2020 AD3 is probably between 0.127 to 0.284 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

The rotation of 2020 AD3 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 8.43 hours.

Close Approaches

2020 AD3's orbit is 0.02 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.

2020 AD3 has 28 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 11, 2019 10,426,243 20.981
Jan. 7, 2020 12,841,727 16.409
April 27, 2033 26,090,267 14.267
April 25, 2034 6,469,925 18.290
April 20, 2035 19,920,860 22.819
Jan. 11, 2057 11,098,537 21.119
Jan. 7, 2058 12,724,404 16.432
April 27, 2071 18,767,755 15.517
April 23, 2072 7,582,827 19.939
April 17, 2073 28,973,915 24.759
Jan. 16, 2093 28,161,102 24.731
Jan. 10, 2094 4,796,321 19.708
Jan. 7, 2095 19,068,793 15.267
April 28, 2108 18,768,931 15.507
April 25, 2109 6,925,234 19.777
April 19, 2110 27,132,148 24.393
Jan. 17, 2131 26,345,260 24.341
Jan. 12, 2132 4,190,305 19.547
Jan. 8, 2133 19,091,043 15.266
April 29, 2146 25,815,288 14.294
April 27, 2147 6,378,977 18.276
April 21, 2148 19,309,913 22.698
Jan. 15, 2170 17,672,930 22.494
Jan. 10, 2171 6,286,635 17.760
Jan. 10, 2172 29,013,132 13.697
April 28, 2184 24,923,967 14.427
April 26, 2185 5,600,239 18.637
April 21, 2186 22,059,597 23.294

Images and Observations

2020 AD3's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 7, 2020. It was last officially observed on Feb. 12, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 237 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 2020 AD3:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9827 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5948
  • Inclination: 2.64°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 268.43°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 73.83°
  • Mean Anomaly: 338.86°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.164 km
  • Magnitude: 21.6

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 356 days (0.97 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 30.03 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.57 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.40 AU
  • Rotation Period: 8.43 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2020 AD3 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 2020 AD3 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.