Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 350,346 km of Earth in 2020
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2020 PY2 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2020 PY2 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 PY2 orbits the sun every 402 days (1.10 years), coming as close as 0.48 AU and reaching as far as 1.65 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2020 PY2 is probably between 0.013 to 0.030 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

The rotation of 2020 PY2 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 0.01 hours.

Close Approaches

2020 PY2'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 PY2 has 15 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Aug. 20, 2020 350,346 16.802
April 9, 2024 20,854,408 13.184
Aug. 22, 2031 5,185,543 15.791
April 11, 2035 14,798,808 14.580
Aug. 25, 2042 18,421,815 13.305
April 14, 2046 10,065,493 17.197
April 18, 2057 19,770,560 20.167
Aug. 15, 2074 23,291,719 21.424
Aug. 19, 2085 7,190,603 18.212
April 9, 2089 26,218,653 12.105
Aug. 21, 2096 2,361,309 16.346
April 12, 2100 13,543,929 14.915
Aug. 26, 2107 28,635,026 11.591
April 20, 2111 19,985,992 20.221
April 10, 2132 21,919,310 12.950

Images and Observations

2020 PY2's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Aug. 12, 2020. It was last officially observed on Aug. 20, 2020. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 88 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 PY2:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.066 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5461
  • Inclination: 4.49°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 327.21°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 119.29°
  • Mean Anomaly: 227.58°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.017 km
  • Magnitude: 26.5

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 402 days (1.10 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 28.85 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.65 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.48 AU
  • Rotation Period: 0.01 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2020 PY2 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.