Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a basketball court
  • Will pass within 18,470,601 km of Earth in 2025
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Akhenaten orbits the sun every 301 days (0.82 years), coming as close as 0.49 AU and reaching as far as 1.27 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Akhenaten is probably between 0.114 to 0.256 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a basketball court.

Close Approaches

Akhenaten's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

Akhenaten has 35 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Feb. 3, 2025 18,470,601 16.146
May 10, 2026 11,003,178 10.812
Feb. 15, 2030 28,814,487 9.280
Feb. 6, 2039 29,879,565 18.753
May 3, 2040 22,462,195 9.439
Feb. 3, 2044 17,113,022 10.043
May 8, 2045 18,309,499 16.583
Feb. 1, 2058 8,486,281 12.786
May 11, 2059 3,631,748 13.573
Feb. 2, 2072 8,543,819 12.894
May 10, 2073 4,502,747 13.734
Feb. 5, 2086 18,550,608 9.799
May 7, 2087 24,809,387 17.914
Feb. 5, 2095 23,782,072 17.386
May 9, 2096 14,682,149 10.227
Feb. 18, 2100 29,699,412 9.341
Feb. 4, 2109 16,323,752 15.631
May 12, 2110 7,271,793 11.467
Feb. 4, 2123 13,072,387 14.801
May 12, 2124 4,776,172 11.931
Feb. 7, 2137 26,785,258 18.049
May 8, 2138 19,201,974 9.688
Feb. 9, 2142 22,553,543 9.394
May 8, 2143 25,988,985 18.182
April 26, 2152 29,204,409 9.365
Feb. 3, 2156 12,141,359 11.004
May 10, 2157 14,576,077 15.778
Feb. 3, 2170 12,282,981 10.969
May 11, 2171 14,235,640 15.710
April 26, 2180 29,365,122 9.381
Feb. 4, 2184 15,022,670 10.373
May 9, 2185 18,741,261 16.636
May 6, 2194 21,428,184 9.491
Feb. 10, 2198 23,492,058 9.363
May 8, 2199 28,767,168 18.745

Images and Observations

Akhenaten's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 13, 1993. It was last officially observed on April 19, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 342 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 Akhenaten:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.8789 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4403
  • Inclination: 3.38°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 53.44°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 309.35°
  • Mean Anomaly: 186.79°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.148 km
  • Magnitude: 21.83

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 301 days (0.82 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 31.77 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.27 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.49 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Akhenaten 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 Akhenaten 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.