416801 (2005 GC120)

Small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 416801 (2005 GC120)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge (0.91 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 15,775,367 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

416801 (2005 GC120) is a small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2005 GC120 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2005 GC120 orbits the sun every 476 days (1.30 years), coming as close as 0.60 AU and reaching as far as 1.79 AU from the sun. 2005 GC120 is about 0.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids, comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The rotation of 2005 GC120 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 9.00 hours.

Close Approaches

2005 GC120'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.

2005 GC120 has 17 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
May 9, 2022 15,775,367 18.175
Nov. 28, 2040 2,028,813 17.532
Dec. 1, 2053 9,403,400 19.566
May 3, 2065 23,241,037 20.902
Dec. 7, 2066 27,396,573 22.968
May 9, 2078 15,681,912 18.263
May 17, 2091 21,084,327 15.483
Nov. 21, 2096 27,736,777 13.212
Nov. 27, 2109 13,061,115 15.604
Nov. 30, 2122 800,552 17.779
May 16, 2130 19,778,234 15.837
Nov. 28, 2144 7,785,286 16.514
May 13, 2152 16,461,113 16.966
Nov. 25, 2166 21,054,696 14.274
May 7, 2174 18,754,173 19.668
Dec. 8, 2175 24,328,518 22.393
Nov. 28, 2197 8,840,133 16.310

Images and Observations

2005 GC120's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 12, 2005. It was last officially observed on March 13, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 343 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 GC120:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.193 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4974
  • Inclination: 16.54°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 67.93°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 258.31°
  • Mean Anomaly: 330.8°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.90600 km
  • Magnitude: 19.65
  • Albedo: 0.031

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 476 days (1.30 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 27.27 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.79 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.60 AU
  • Rotation Period: 9.00 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 416801 (2005 GC120) 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 2005 GC120 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.