SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2002 AY3

2002 AY3

2002 AY3 is an Amor-type near-Earth asteroid that approaches Earth from beyond our orbit without crossing it, orbiting the Sun at 1.67 AU once every 2.16 yr.

Amor Observations: 100
Orbital Period · P
2.16 yr
v(q)
33.2 km/s
v(Q)
16 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.26 km
TJ
4.11
Eccentricity · e
0.3502

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 1.085 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 2.255 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 1.17 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.67 AU gives an orbital period of 2.16 yr, or about 788 days.

An eccentricity of 0.35 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

A steep inclination of 20.5° carries it well above and below the ecliptic plane.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 33.2 km/s at perihelion and falls to 16 km/s at aphelion.

Its perihelion lies just outside Earth's orbit, which is why it is classed as Earth-approaching rather than Earth-crossing.

Size and surface

No direct size measurement is available; from an absolute magnitude of H = 20.7 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.26 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 100 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.4654 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 0 means the orbit is very well determined, leaving only a small uncertainty in the future ephemeris.

About these computed values

Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

Orbital Parameters

Semi-Major Axis
1.67 AU
Eccentricity
0.3502
Perihelion
1.085 AU
Aphelion
2.254834 AU
Inclination
20.5°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
111.38°

Orbit diagram

The Sun sits at the focus (orange). Earth's orbit is the grey circle at 1 AU. The red dot marks the object's position at the catalog epoch.

3D orbit (interactive)

Drag to rotate; scroll or pinch to zoom. The Sun is at the focus (orange), Earth's orbit is the grey ring at 1 AU, and the red dot marks the object's current position.

Close approaches

Predicted close approaches to Earth, from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

Date (UTC)Miss distanceVelocity
2030-Jan-24 19:39 0.331358 AU
49570390 km
14.40 km/s
2043-Jan-15 04:17 0.101812 AU
15230810 km
11.66 km/s
2056-Jan-05 19:54 0.324310 AU
48516018 km
14.30 km/s
2071-Jan-28 10:41 0.427737 AU
63988480 km
16.07 km/s

Distances in astronomical units (AU) and kilometres. Source: NASA/JPL CNEOS Close Approach Data API.

Physical Parameters

Diameter
— km
Albedo
—
Density
— g/cm³
Rotation Period
— h
Absolute Magnitude
20.7

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.46539
Condition
0
Orbit ID
—
Data source: NASA JPL Small-Body Database · NASA CNEOS. Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

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