Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge (1.05 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 1,981,499 km of Earth in 2022
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

7482 (1994 PC1) is a mid-sized asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 1994 PC1 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

1994 PC1 orbits the sun every 572 days (1.57 years), coming as close as 0.90 AU and reaching as far as 1.79 AU from the sun. 1994 PC1 is about 1.1 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The rotation of 1994 PC1 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 2.60 hours.

1994 PC1's spectral type None (Tholen) / S (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

Close Approaches

1994 PC1's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

1994 PC1 has 8 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
Jan. 18, 2022 1,981,499 19.555
Jan. 25, 2058 22,404,970 18.578
Jan. 14, 2069 10,494,385 20.515
Jan. 18, 2105 2,328,288 19.854
Jan. 16, 2130 11,313,717 20.574
Jan. 10, 2155 29,606,233 22.446
Jan. 25, 2169 18,223,001 18.691
Jan. 20, 2194 4,232,666 19.394

Images and Observations

1994 PC1's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 22, 1974. It was last officially observed on July 28, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,479 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 1994 PC1:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.349 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3294
  • Inclination: 33.47°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 117.86°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 47.51°
  • Mean Anomaly: 354.82°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 1.05200 km
  • Magnitude: 16.66
  • Albedo: 0.277
  • Spectral type (SMASS): S

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 572 days (1.57 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 25.66 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.79 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.90 AU
  • Rotation Period: 2.60 hours
  • Approx. Composition: and .

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of 7482 (1994 PC1) 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 above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 1994 PC1 to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.