2022 US21

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2022 US21

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 15,735,784 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2022 US21 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2022 US21 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2022 US21 orbits the sun every 329 days (0.90 years), coming as close as 0.57 AU and reaching as far as 1.30 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2022 US21 is probably between 0.115 to 0.257 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

2022 US21's orbit is 0.04 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 US21 has 14 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Oct. 18, 2022 15,735,784 18.466
Oct. 19, 2031 20,399,368 19.321
Oct. 20, 2040 26,990,743 20.496
Oct. 17, 2077 26,891,429 13.234
Oct. 16, 2086 21,128,833 13.688
Oct. 16, 2095 15,507,214 14.262
Oct. 16, 2104 11,469,852 14.773
Oct. 16, 2113 10,058,401 14.980
Oct. 17, 2122 10,794,501 14.857
Oct. 17, 2131 12,913,198 14.584
Oct. 16, 2140 16,405,054 14.173
Oct. 17, 2149 21,425,607 13.652
Oct. 19, 2158 27,683,622 13.177
Oct. 22, 2193 28,700,522 20.842

Images and Observations

2022 US21's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 28, 2022. It was last officially observed on Nov. 25, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 59 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 2022 US21:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9327 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3892
  • Inclination: 22.86°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 26.36°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 230.9°
  • Mean Anomaly: 78.34°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.148 km
  • Magnitude: 21.82

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 329 days (0.90 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 30.84 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.30 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.57 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2022 US21 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 US21 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.