488490 (2000 AF205)

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 488490 (2000 AF205)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 12,849,387 km of Earth in 2020
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

488490 (2000 AF205) is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2000 AF205 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2000 AF205 orbits the sun every 384 days (1.05 years), coming as close as 0.75 AU and reaching as far as 1.32 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2000 AF205 is probably between 0.073 to 0.324 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2000 AF205's orbit is 0.02 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 AF205 has 22 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 18, 2020 12,849,387 11.102
May 29, 2037 17,149,520 5.414
Dec. 18, 2040 12,888,079 11.098
May 29, 2057 17,822,215 5.311
Dec. 18, 2060 14,729,697 11.475
May 21, 2076 17,789,061 12.108
July 11, 2077 29,739,398 6.281
Dec. 6, 2079 19,398,114 4.906
May 29, 2096 12,987,287 6.215
Dec. 20, 2099 18,301,686 12.280
May 21, 2114 24,860,434 13.545
May 15, 2115 26,989,449 5.105
July 2, 2115 26,958,915 5.482
Dec. 8, 2117 18,499,340 5.096
May 24, 2133 14,062,482 11.379
Dec. 12, 2136 12,687,618 6.266
May 30, 2153 10,485,291 6.699
Dec. 18, 2156 10,316,899 10.545
May 25, 2172 11,311,802 10.786
Dec. 12, 2175 13,932,240 5.992
May 27, 2192 4,129,151 9.223
Dec. 13, 2195 12,784,434 6.246

Images and Observations

2000 AF205's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 8, 2000. It was last officially observed on Feb. 13, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 245 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

2000 AF205 can be reached with a journey of 426 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 9.174 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 22,911 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2000 AF205.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2000 AF205:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.035 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.277
  • Inclination: 2.41°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 219.9°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 127.52°
  • Mean Anomaly: 277.94°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.199 km
  • Magnitude: 21.9

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 384 days (1.05 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.32 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.32 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.75 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 488490 (2000 AF205) 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 AF205 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.