208023 (1999 AQ10)

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 208023 (1999 AQ10)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the U.S. Capitol building
  • Will pass within 29,643,008 km of Earth in 2026
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

208023 (1999 AQ10) is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 1999 AQ10 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

1999 AQ10 orbits the sun every 330 days (0.90 years), coming as close as 0.71 AU and reaching as far as 1.15 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 1999 AQ10 is probably between 0.137 to 0.612 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 90% of asteroids but tiny compared to large asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the U.S. Capitol building.

The rotation of 1999 AQ10 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 2.67 hours.

Close Approaches

1999 AQ10'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.

1999 AQ10 has 31 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 23, 2026 29,643,008 6.252
Sept. 11, 2035 27,909,158 5.830
Nov. 17, 2035 27,096,228 5.331
Feb. 15, 2037 19,551,151 11.709
Oct. 6, 2044 19,542,740 5.268
Feb. 17, 2046 9,270,093 9.664
Oct. 10, 2053 17,223,886 5.854
Feb. 18, 2055 6,743,142 9.195
Sept. 28, 2062 23,217,650 4.927
Feb. 17, 2064 17,380,496 11.271
Dec. 6, 2071 29,157,175 5.965
Dec. 29, 2080 28,499,634 6.248
Jan. 3, 2090 28,116,484 6.284
Dec. 30, 2098 28,689,552 6.292
Dec. 28, 2107 29,167,270 6.290
Dec. 31, 2116 28,638,364 6.293
Jan. 17, 2126 24,826,127 6.072
Oct. 20, 2133 20,863,558 10.618
Feb. 11, 2135 14,285,539 5.856
Oct. 16, 2142 14,352,838 7.800
Feb. 19, 2144 2,061,284 7.603
Oct. 18, 2151 17,626,707 9.734
Feb. 11, 2153 14,711,108 5.798
Dec. 29, 2161 29,013,212 6.274
Sept. 25, 2170 23,856,779 5.070
Oct. 31, 2170 24,051,812 4.595
Feb. 19, 2172 12,503,118 10.293
Oct. 16, 2179 14,359,551 8.153
Feb. 17, 2181 8,709,295 6.456
Jan. 11, 2190 26,433,491 6.166
Dec. 9, 2198 29,134,338 5.986

Images and Observations

1999 AQ10's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 14, 1999. It was last officially observed on Feb. 26, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 446 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

1999 AQ10 can be reached with a journey of 394 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 9.212 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 32,890 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 1999 AQ10.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 1999 AQ10:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9339 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.2354
  • Inclination: 6.5°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 326.98°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 300.55°
  • Mean Anomaly: 316.3°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.375 km
  • Magnitude: 20.52
  • Spectral type (SMASS): S:

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 330 days (0.90 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 30.79 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.15 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.71 AU
  • Rotation Period: 2.67 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 208023 (1999 AQ10) 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 1999 AQ10 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.