2020 JU

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

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

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 19,610,414 km of Earth in 2020
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

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

2020 JU orbits the sun every 332 days (0.91 years), coming as close as 0.86 AU and reaching as far as 1.02 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2020 JU is probably between 0.119 to 0.531 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 90% of asteroids but tiny compared to large asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2020 JU'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.

2020 JU has 32 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 1, 2020 19,610,414 6.645
June 11, 2020 12,368,091 6.426
Jan. 11, 2030 21,735,245 6.572
June 11, 2030 6,204,358 5.860
Dec. 25, 2039 19,141,377 6.733
June 12, 2040 19,110,195 7.246
Nov. 30, 2049 20,613,651 6.788
June 1, 2059 26,128,755 7.170
Oct. 31, 2059 26,780,302 6.245
June 6, 2069 10,973,955 5.682
Feb. 4, 2079 27,079,456 6.002
June 8, 2079 5,762,744 5.504
June 2, 2089 21,244,192 6.568
Oct. 24, 2089 27,661,925 5.943
Nov. 27, 2099 20,572,970 6.701
Dec. 25, 2109 18,579,346 6.684
June 13, 2110 18,067,549 7.095
Jan. 15, 2120 22,529,936 6.526
June 11, 2120 4,160,635 5.724
Dec. 26, 2129 19,377,856 6.732
June 13, 2130 18,304,067 7.120
Nov. 30, 2139 20,834,123 6.789
June 1, 2149 23,823,286 6.898
Oct. 28, 2149 27,377,475 6.114
Feb. 12, 2159 28,129,031 5.530
June 8, 2159 7,463,505 5.545
Feb. 8, 2169 27,763,994 5.756
June 8, 2169 6,982,198 5.531
June 3, 2179 22,370,777 6.721
Oct. 28, 2179 27,089,113 6.073
Nov. 30, 2189 19,978,599 6.719
Dec. 28, 2199 18,980,899 6.673

Images and Observations

2020 JU's orbit is determined by observations dating back to May 5, 2020. It was last officially observed on Nov. 5, 2020. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 303 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2020 JU can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 7.512 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 45,791 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

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

Similar Objects

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

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9388 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.0861
  • Inclination: 10.7°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 259.04°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 167.05°
  • Mean Anomaly: 50.5°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.325 km
  • Magnitude: 20.83

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 332 days (0.91 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 30.76 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.02 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.86 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2020 JU 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 JU 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.