Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 16,820,129 km of Earth in 2021
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2022 DC5 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2022 DC5 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.

2022 DC5 orbits the sun every 373 days (1.02 years), coming as close as 0.80 AU and reaching as far as 1.22 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2022 DC5 is probably between 0.045 to 0.203 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2022 DC5's orbit is 0.05 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.

2022 DC5 has 35 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
April 9, 2021 16,820,129 9.662
April 13, 2022 9,653,596 5.765
March 17, 2023 23,909,981 4.954
May 29, 2023 25,147,175 4.970
Aug. 28, 2026 28,119,263 6.645
Oct. 7, 2027 18,946,456 4.581
Oct. 31, 2028 9,763,229 7.322
Nov. 7, 2029 25,489,355 11.488
April 7, 2066 27,604,750 11.980
April 12, 2067 9,606,380 7.759
April 4, 2068 17,217,688 4.414
March 1, 2069 29,394,763 5.640
June 19, 2069 29,167,678 6.308
Aug. 17, 2071 29,908,390 7.065
Sept. 21, 2072 22,647,294 5.335
Nov. 24, 2072 24,623,727 4.263
Oct. 29, 2073 9,494,293 6.382
Nov. 6, 2074 21,839,167 10.705
April 10, 2111 20,657,991 10.482
April 14, 2112 8,384,569 6.541
March 26, 2113 21,234,164 4.617
May 17, 2113 22,641,380 4.060
Aug. 21, 2116 29,442,383 6.959
Sept. 25, 2117 22,259,337 5.199
Nov. 24, 2117 24,018,639 4.216
Oct. 31, 2118 9,715,367 6.223
Nov. 7, 2119 19,978,434 10.265
April 13, 2157 12,137,406 8.488
April 12, 2158 14,996,497 4.564
March 7, 2159 28,472,972 5.507
June 17, 2159 28,456,915 6.107
Sept. 19, 2162 23,840,269 5.592
Dec. 1, 2162 25,918,019 4.604
Oct. 30, 2163 10,486,665 5.853
Nov. 6, 2164 19,043,980 10.038

Images and Observations

2022 DC5's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 25, 2021. It was last officially observed on Nov. 24, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 171 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2022 DC5 can be reached with a journey of 434 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 7.237 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 288,580 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2022 DC5.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2022 DC5:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460000.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.014 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.2062
  • Inclination: 3.91°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 151.17°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 152.55°
  • Mean Anomaly: 227.64°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.124 km
  • Magnitude: 22.92

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 373 days (1.02 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.57 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.22 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.80 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 2022 DC5 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 2022 DC5 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.