509821 (2008 WQ63)

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 509821 (2008 WQ63)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 25,589,921 km of Earth in 2024
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

509821 (2008 WQ63) is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2008 WQ63 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2008 WQ63 orbits the sun every 834 days (2.28 years), coming as close as 0.68 AU and reaching as far as 2.79 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2008 WQ63 is probably between 0.242 to 0.542 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 90% of asteroids but tiny compared to large asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

2008 WQ63'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.

2008 WQ63 has 9 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Dec. 28, 2024 25,589,921 22.255
July 2, 2059 29,240,590 22.758
June 27, 2075 15,349,243 20.088
June 27, 2091 15,269,171 20.068
Dec. 30, 2136 27,792,156 22.689
Dec. 30, 2152 27,422,680 22.667
Jan. 3, 2169 15,715,261 20.207
Jan. 11, 2185 2,874,576 16.466
June 19, 2194 8,619,532 15.411

Images and Observations

2008 WQ63's orbit is determined by observations dating back to July 18, 2002. It was last officially observed on Aug. 8, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 201 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 2008 WQ63:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.733 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.6078
  • Inclination: 0.92°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 317.25°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 228.87°
  • Mean Anomaly: 135.89°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.313 km
  • Magnitude: 20.2

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 834 days (2.28 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 22.61 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.79 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.68 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 509821 (2008 WQ63) 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 2008 WQ63 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.