Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 4,390,640 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2021 EY1 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2021 EY1 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.

2021 EY1 orbits the sun every 363 days (0.99 years), coming as close as 0.54 AU and reaching as far as 1.45 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2021 EY1 is probably between 0.012 to 0.027 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2021 EY1'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.

2021 EY1 has 35 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 12, 2019 4,390,640 13.936
March 11, 2020 1,581,770 14.589
March 11, 2021 1,350,662 14.896
March 10, 2022 3,886,878 15.486
March 9, 2023 8,375,287 16.413
March 7, 2024 13,504,755 17.464
March 6, 2025 18,968,107 18.564
March 5, 2026 24,990,605 19.813
Nov. 12, 2125 25,104,457 19.014
Nov. 11, 2126 20,560,910 17.862
Nov. 9, 2127 16,788,266 16.776
Nov. 7, 2128 14,160,192 15.690
Nov. 6, 2129 13,193,708 14.640
Nov. 5, 2130 14,165,591 13.632
Nov. 4, 2131 16,704,646 12.615
Nov. 3, 2132 20,273,776 11.609
Nov. 3, 2133 24,476,827 10.643
Nov. 3, 2134 29,049,729 9.710
March 12, 2173 27,850,640 10.018
March 14, 2174 23,551,334 10.519
March 15, 2175 19,282,581 11.199
March 14, 2176 15,181,467 11.892
March 14, 2177 11,298,874 12.605
March 14, 2178 7,759,508 13.298
March 14, 2179 4,866,380 13.862
March 13, 2180 2,886,882 14.304
March 13, 2181 2,009,346 14.543
March 13, 2182 2,091,850 14.497
March 13, 2183 3,268,517 14.216
March 13, 2184 5,818,363 13.672
March 14, 2185 9,209,372 12.998
March 15, 2186 13,014,148 12.295
March 15, 2187 17,142,994 11.531
March 14, 2188 21,415,426 10.817
March 13, 2189 26,162,675 10.158

Images and Observations

2021 EY1's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 7, 2021. It was last officially observed on March 8, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 29 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 2021 EY1:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9962 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4551
  • Inclination: 6.02°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 165.99°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 121.38°
  • Mean Anomaly: 123.29°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.016 km
  • Magnitude: 26.68

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 363 days (0.99 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.86 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.45 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.54 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2021 EY1 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.