494697 (2004 SW55)

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 494697 (2004 SW55)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 20,027,050 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

494697 (2004 SW55) is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2004 SW55 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2004 SW55 orbits the sun every 623 days (1.71 years), coming as close as 0.95 AU and reaching as far as 1.90 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2004 SW55 is probably between 0.186 to 0.417 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2004 SW55's orbit is 0.03 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.

2004 SW55 has 13 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 7, 2022 20,027,050 10.048
Oct. 24, 2033 20,571,838 8.988
Dec. 29, 2050 11,181,342 8.376
Oct. 21, 2062 23,263,109 9.613
Jan. 5, 2080 16,992,888 9.431
Nov. 1, 2091 16,142,341 8.165
Jan. 13, 2109 26,006,476 11.191
Nov. 10, 2120 12,458,637 7.589
Jan. 12, 2138 24,556,864 10.883
Nov. 2, 2149 16,166,714 8.193
Jan. 4, 2167 14,726,438 8.951
Oct. 22, 2178 23,334,721 9.696
Jan. 1, 2196 12,086,539 8.442

Images and Observations

2004 SW55's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 24, 2004. It was last officially observed on Feb. 24, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 169 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 2004 SW55:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.428 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.334
  • Inclination: 8.79°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 75.12°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 352.83°
  • Mean Anomaly: 10.14°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.241 km
  • Magnitude: 20.77

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 623 days (1.71 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 24.94 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.90 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.95 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 494697 (2004 SW55) 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 2004 SW55 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.