523950 (1998 SZ27)

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 523950 (1998 SZ27)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 10,129,457 km of Earth in 2023
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

523950 (1998 SZ27) is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 1998 SZ27 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

1998 SZ27 orbits the sun every 315 days (0.86 years), coming as close as 0.45 AU and reaching as far as 1.36 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 1998 SZ27 is probably between 0.232 to 0.518 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

Close Approaches

1998 SZ27'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.

1998 SZ27 has 14 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Sept. 7, 2023 10,129,457 17.195
Sept. 11, 2029 13,670,408 21.126
Sept. 8, 2048 29,377,510 14.887
Sept. 8, 2054 6,219,476 17.804
Sept. 11, 2060 15,217,618 21.392
Sept. 7, 2085 16,870,691 16.249
Sept. 9, 2091 2,438,378 19.152
Sept. 14, 2097 28,554,344 23.895
Sept. 8, 2116 13,210,600 16.763
Sept. 12, 2122 9,822,300 20.445
Sept. 9, 2147 13,363,956 16.731
Sept. 11, 2153 7,795,975 20.084
Sept. 9, 2178 19,615,130 15.906
Sept. 10, 2184 1,169,669 18.982

Images and Observations

1998 SZ27's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 21, 1998. It was last officially observed on Dec. 8, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 107 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 1998 SZ27:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9052 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.5069
  • Inclination: 23.65°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 166.69°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 47.72°
  • Mean Anomaly: 84.58°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.299 km
  • Magnitude: 20.3

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 315 days (0.86 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 31.26 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.36 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.45 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 523950 (1998 SZ27) 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 1998 SZ27 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.