496816 (1989 UP)

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 496816 (1989 UP)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field (0.30 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 3,998,237 km of Earth in 2050
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

496816 (1989 UP) is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 1989 UP as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

1989 UP orbits the sun every 928 days (2.54 years), coming as close as 0.98 AU and reaching as far as 2.74 AU from the sun. 1989 UP is about 0.3 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, comparable in size to a football field.

The rotation of 1989 UP has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 6.98 hours.

Close Approaches

1989 UP'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.

1989 UP has 6 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 8, 2050 3,998,237 6.662
Dec. 13, 2078 4,871,821 6.834
Oct. 22, 2101 23,825,841 11.861
Dec. 20, 2129 6,349,278 7.130
Dec. 10, 2152 4,232,836 6.668
Oct. 29, 2193 15,714,245 10.091

Images and Observations

1989 UP's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 27, 1989. It was last officially observed on Feb. 13, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 378 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 1989 UP:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.862 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4721
  • Inclination: 3.86°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 53.16°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 17.8°
  • Mean Anomaly: 101.37°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.30000 km
  • Magnitude: 20.55

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 928 days (2.54 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 21.83 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.74 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.98 AU
  • Rotation Period: 6.98 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 496816 (1989 UP) 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 1989 UP 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.