267221 (2001 AD2)

Small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 267221 (2001 AD2)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge (0.56 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 20,978,878 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

267221 (2001 AD2) is a small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2001 AD2 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2001 AD2 orbits the sun every 387 days (1.06 years), coming as close as 0.35 AU and reaching as far as 1.73 AU from the sun. 2001 AD2 is about 0.6 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids, comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Close Approaches

2001 AD2'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.

2001 AD2 has 24 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 27, 2019 20,978,878 25.924
April 4, 2029 4,640,092 20.793
Dec. 22, 2036 4,664,894 22.222
April 3, 2046 1,681,385 21.935
Dec. 20, 2053 8,649,073 20.072
March 28, 2063 26,664,975 27.195
April 7, 2064 27,111,138 16.633
Dec. 28, 2071 22,136,076 26.170
April 5, 2081 6,892,644 20.345
Dec. 23, 2088 5,569,740 22.449
April 3, 2098 4,414,227 22.545
Dec. 21, 2105 11,839,970 19.398
March 30, 2115 26,723,416 27.194
April 9, 2116 26,663,852 16.710
Dec. 29, 2123 19,954,664 25.691
April 5, 2133 1,311,344 21.529
Dec. 24, 2140 5,015,890 22.217
April 6, 2150 1,853,663 21.356
Dec. 28, 2157 18,499,538 25.360
March 30, 2166 25,854,272 27.015
Dec. 22, 2173 8,999,299 20.024
April 8, 2183 10,683,626 19.585
Dec. 20, 2189 25,309,579 16.870
April 5, 2199 6,469,558 22.969

Images and Observations

2001 AD2's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 2, 2001. It was last officially observed on Feb. 8, 2020. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 461 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 2001 AD2:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.04 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.6598
  • Inclination: 1.64°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 210.54°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 111.95°
  • Mean Anomaly: 223.66°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.56200 km
  • Magnitude: 19.85
  • Albedo: 0.097

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 387 days (1.06 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.24 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.73 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.35 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 267221 (2001 AD2) 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 above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 2001 AD2 to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.