303450 (2005 BY2)

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 303450 (2005 BY2)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field (0.19 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 25,586,427 km of Earth in 2025
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

303450 (2005 BY2) is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2005 BY2 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2005 BY2 orbits the sun every 522 days (1.43 years), coming as close as 0.85 AU and reaching as far as 1.69 AU from the sun. 2005 BY2 is about 0.2 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2005 BY2'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.

2005 BY2 has 18 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 18, 2025 25,586,427 7.250
April 3, 2035 26,744,436 7.851
April 12, 2045 26,694,130 8.074
April 21, 2055 26,171,819 8.160
April 28, 2065 25,247,359 8.146
May 10, 2075 23,213,061 7.988
May 20, 2085 20,562,448 7.778
May 22, 2095 20,027,158 7.767
May 19, 2105 21,048,141 7.822
May 16, 2115 22,097,479 7.905
May 12, 2125 22,965,263 7.988
May 2, 2135 24,923,298 8.146
April 20, 2145 26,353,672 8.157
April 10, 2155 26,771,220 8.031
April 1, 2165 26,611,236 7.784
March 19, 2175 25,371,793 7.167
March 2, 2185 23,087,290 6.554
Feb. 22, 2195 21,563,936 6.624

Images and Observations

2005 BY2's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 10, 2004. It was last officially observed on Dec. 2, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 187 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 2005 BY2:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.269 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3307
  • Inclination: 7.29°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 74.44°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 130.29°
  • Mean Anomaly: 324.69°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.18700 km
  • Magnitude: 20.55
  • Albedo: 0.317

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 522 days (1.43 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 26.45 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.69 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.85 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 303450 (2005 BY2) 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 2005 BY2 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.