88254 (2001 FM129)

Small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 88254 (2001 FM129)

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge (0.80 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 13,034,162 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

88254 (2001 FM129) is a small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2001 FM129 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

2001 FM129 orbits the sun every 470 days (1.29 years), coming as close as 0.44 AU and reaching as far as 1.93 AU from the sun. 2001 FM129 is about 0.8 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids, comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The rotation of 2001 FM129 has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 38.56 hours.

Close Approaches

2001 FM129's orbit is 0.01 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.

2001 FM129 has 15 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 13, 2019 13,034,162 22.485
March 12, 2028 12,628,002 22.372
March 13, 2037 13,860,111 22.639
March 14, 2046 17,244,416 23.364
March 16, 2055 22,669,805 24.475
March 17, 2064 27,787,384 25.547
July 9, 2093 27,443,834 25.442
July 11, 2102 25,436,101 25.052
July 11, 2111 24,903,872 24.921
July 11, 2120 25,745,745 25.097
July 10, 2129 27,276,757 25.423
July 11, 2138 27,510,310 25.454
July 11, 2147 28,811,390 25.714
March 20, 2190 27,880,886 25.568
March 19, 2199 26,006,772 25.155

Images and Observations

2001 FM129's orbit is determined by observations dating back to May 8, 1978. It was last officially observed on May 24, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 914 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 2001 FM129:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.182 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.6296
  • Inclination: 1.52°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 272.12°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 140.21°
  • Mean Anomaly: 219.93°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.80000 km
  • Magnitude: 17.77
  • Albedo: 0.252

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 470 days (1.29 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 27.36 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.93 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.44 AU
  • Rotation Period: 38.56 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 88254 (2001 FM129) 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 2001 FM129 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.