SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2012 AY

2012 AY

2012 AY belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.228 AU it takes 1.36 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 154
Orbital Period · P
1.36 yr
v(q)
35.3 km/s
v(Q)
20.5 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.12 km
TJ
5.12
Eccentricity · e
0.2655

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.902 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 1.554 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 0.652 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.228 AU gives an orbital period of 1.36 yr, or about 497 days.

An eccentricity of 0.266 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

A steep inclination of 20.55° carries it well above and below the ecliptic plane.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 35.3 km/s at perihelion and falls to 20.5 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 = 22.41 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.12 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 154 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.4056 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 1 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
1.228 AU
Eccentricity
0.2655
Perihelion
0.902 AU
Aphelion
1.554034 AU
Inclination
20.55°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
159.71°

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

No close approaches to Earth are currently on record for this object.

Physical Parameters

Diameter
— km
Albedo
—
Density
— g/cm³
Rotation Period
— h
Absolute Magnitude
22.41

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.40557
Condition
1
Orbit ID
—
Data source: NASA JPL Small-Body Database . 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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