Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 7,083,956 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2020 BL11 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2020 BL11 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.

2020 BL11 orbits the sun every 359 days (0.98 years), coming as close as 0.98 AU and reaching as far as 1.00 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2020 BL11 is probably between 0.005 to 0.021 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2020 BL11's orbit is 0.01 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2020 BL11 has 21 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 24, 2019 7,083,956 3.322
July 31, 2019 3,985,378 3.156
Jan. 30, 2020 1,731,256 3.212
July 8, 2020 12,376,769 3.481
Feb. 2, 2021 8,354,076 3.791
Feb. 5, 2022 21,081,107 5.660
Sept. 12, 2077 29,015,700 6.646
Aug. 28, 2078 16,209,829 4.549
Jan. 6, 2079 19,538,204 4.536
Aug. 11, 2079 6,147,061 3.391
Jan. 18, 2080 10,299,050 3.449
July 28, 2080 3,976,955 3.130
Jan. 24, 2081 4,477,155 3.146
July 18, 2081 8,866,865 3.245
Jan. 27, 2082 1,372,803 3.286
Jan. 30, 2083 18,917,093 5.494
Aug. 29, 2125 16,431,342 4.675
Aug. 2, 2126 4,811,399 3.197
Jan. 22, 2127 6,282,337 3.128
Jan. 29, 2128 8,117,424 3.908
Jan. 28, 2129 26,502,736 6.870

Images and Observations

2020 BL11's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 26, 2020. It was last officially observed on Feb. 2, 2020. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 25 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2020 BL11 can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 4.332 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 862,964 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2020 BL11.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2020 BL11:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9893 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.0089
  • Inclination: 5.91°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 308.01°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 289.62°
  • Mean Anomaly: 133.0°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.013 km
  • Magnitude: 27.8

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 359 days (0.98 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.98 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.00 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.98 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2020 BL11 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.