SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2009 ME9

2009 ME9

2009 ME9 is an Aten-type near-Earth asteroid whose orbit lies mostly inside that of Earth, with a semi-major axis of 0.923 AU and a period of 0.89 yr.

Aten Observations: 64
Orbital Period · P
0.89 yr
v(q)
53.7 km/s
v(Q)
17.9 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.2 km
TJ
6.26
Eccentricity · e
0.5009

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.461 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 1.386 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 0.925 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 0.923 AU gives an orbital period of 0.89 yr, or about 324 days.

The high eccentricity (0.501) produces a strongly elongated orbit, so the object spends most of its time far from the Sun.

A steep inclination of 31.47° carries it well above and below the ecliptic plane.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 53.7 km/s at perihelion and falls to 17.9 km/s at aphelion.

Because q < 1 AU and Q > 1 AU, this orbit geometrically intersects the region of Earth's orbit.

Size and surface

No direct size measurement is available; from an absolute magnitude of H = 21.24 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.2 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 64 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.6221 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
0.9234 AU
Eccentricity
0.5009
Perihelion
0.461 AU
Aphelion
1.385931 AU
Inclination
31.47°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
182.96°

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
2063-Jun-15 19:53 0.191187 AU
28601108 km
21.23 km/s
2071-Jun-15 05:29 0.163778 AU
24500840 km
19.74 km/s
2079-Jun-15 11:38 0.163526 AU
24463135 km
18.55 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
21.24

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.62215
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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