422686 (2000 AC6)

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 422686 (2000 AC6)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field (0.18 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 23,768,881 km of Earth in 2021
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

422686 (2000 AC6) is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2000 AC6 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2000 AC6 orbits the sun every 288 days (0.79 years), coming as close as 0.61 AU and reaching as far as 1.10 AU from the sun. 2000 AC6 is about 0.2 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, comparable in size to a football field.

The rotation of 2000 AC6 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 2.44 hours.

2000 AC6's spectral type None (Tholen) / Q (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain .

Close Approaches

2000 AC6's orbit is 0.05 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.

2000 AC6 has 30 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Nov. 29, 2021 23,768,881 12.666
Jan. 1, 2026 16,806,073 6.619
Feb. 21, 2030 17,106,867 10.803
Nov. 28, 2036 9,423,050 9.211
Jan. 27, 2041 15,706,447 6.541
Dec. 6, 2051 9,307,668 6.903
Feb. 15, 2056 10,578,476 7.028
Dec. 16, 2066 13,553,519 6.560
Feb. 20, 2071 9,804,806 8.273
Nov. 28, 2077 19,971,023 11.835
Jan. 8, 2082 17,248,762 6.647
Feb. 21, 2086 18,307,437 11.085
Nov. 28, 2092 10,230,900 9.502
Jan. 19, 2097 17,039,624 6.618
Feb. 21, 2101 25,943,953 12.921
Dec. 2, 2107 6,766,521 7.641
Feb. 10, 2112 12,932,327 6.579
Dec. 16, 2122 12,847,247 6.544
Feb. 21, 2127 10,172,448 8.372
Nov. 29, 2133 13,376,313 10.313
Jan. 25, 2138 16,214,427 6.537
Dec. 11, 2148 11,454,336 6.636
Feb. 20, 2153 9,818,007 7.789
Nov. 30, 2159 20,098,639 11.877
Jan. 11, 2164 17,309,631 6.635
Feb. 22, 2168 21,570,287 11.855
Dec. 1, 2174 6,439,896 8.115
Feb. 5, 2179 14,412,684 6.523
Dec. 16, 2189 12,923,574 6.556
Feb. 21, 2194 10,389,459 8.414

Images and Observations

2000 AC6's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 4, 2000. It was last officially observed on Jan. 8, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 310 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2000 AC6 can be reached with a journey of 354 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 10.849 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 6,803 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2000 AC6.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2000 AC6:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.8537 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.2864
  • Inclination: 4.7°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 101.37°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 188.08°
  • Mean Anomaly: 195.18°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.17600 km
  • Magnitude: 21.63
  • Albedo: 0.143
  • Spectral type (SMASS): Q

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 288 days (0.79 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 32.25 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.10 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.61 AU
  • Rotation Period: 2.44 hours
  • Approx. Composition: .

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 422686 (2000 AC6) 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 2000 AC6 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.