2022 FA4

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2022 FA4

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 26,182,924 km of Earth in 2021
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2022 FA4 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2022 FA4 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 FA4 orbits the sun every 355 days (0.97 years), coming as close as 0.82 AU and reaching as far as 1.15 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2022 FA4 is probably between 0.013 to 0.056 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2022 FA4's orbit is 0.07 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 FA4 has 39 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 16, 2021 26,182,924 9.986
March 21, 2022 10,103,526 6.022
Dec. 21, 2022 29,857,628 5.413
April 21, 2023 20,302,147 5.552
Nov. 8, 2023 27,425,191 6.977
May 31, 2024 27,265,874 4.990
Sept. 30, 2024 21,238,525 6.501
Aug. 21, 2025 19,552,973 6.597
March 16, 2055 28,341,033 10.419
March 19, 2056 10,182,702 6.271
Dec. 26, 2056 29,608,272 5.014
April 17, 2057 19,235,428 5.520
Nov. 11, 2057 27,888,834 6.949
May 27, 2058 27,014,527 5.133
Oct. 4, 2058 21,788,742 6.598
Aug. 25, 2059 18,949,623 6.417
March 17, 2090 12,789,229 7.137
Aug. 7, 2094 27,315,667 8.818
March 16, 2124 22,152,515 9.182
March 25, 2125 10,585,339 5.739
April 27, 2126 21,983,087 5.546
Nov. 2, 2126 26,529,097 6.975
Sept. 25, 2127 20,104,521 6.365
Aug. 18, 2128 20,806,790 7.082
March 17, 2158 27,255,796 10.220
March 22, 2159 9,855,081 6.173
Dec. 26, 2159 29,777,593 5.150
April 19, 2160 19,731,538 5.518
Nov. 10, 2160 27,685,018 6.935
May 30, 2161 27,302,843 5.045
Oct. 3, 2161 21,369,929 6.547
Aug. 25, 2162 19,058,912 6.533
March 18, 2193 13,113,880 7.269
April 8, 2194 15,485,431 5.476
Nov. 24, 2194 29,213,832 6.670
May 15, 2195 25,643,265 5.406
Oct. 17, 2195 23,709,002 6.807
Sept. 7, 2196 18,283,929 6.175
Aug. 9, 2197 26,849,858 8.739

Images and Observations

2022 FA4's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 27, 2022. It was last officially observed on April 10, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 52 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2022 FA4 can be reached with a journey of 378 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 8.353 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 101,189 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2022 FA4.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2022 FA4:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9813 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1684
  • Inclination: 8.67°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 18.88°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 40.79°
  • Mean Anomaly: 291.1°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.035 km
  • Magnitude: 25.71

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 355 days (0.97 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 30.07 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.15 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.82 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2022 FA4 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 FA4 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.