SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2012 UL171

2012 UL171

2012 UL171 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.062 AU it takes 1.09 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 9
Orbital Period · P
1.09 yr
v(q)
33.4 km/s
v(Q)
25 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.01 km
TJ
5.79
Eccentricity · e
0.1434

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.909 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 1.214 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 0.305 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.062 AU gives an orbital period of 1.09 yr, or about 400 days.

An eccentricity of 0.143 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

Its inclination of 3.17° keeps it close to the plane of the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 33.4 km/s at perihelion and falls to 25 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 = 27 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.01 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 9 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.661 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 8 signals a poorly constrained orbit, so its future path should be treated as provisional.

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
1.062 AU
Eccentricity
0.1434
Perihelion
0.909 AU
Aphelion
1.214291 AU
Inclination
3.17°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2456226.5
Mean Anomaly
294.23°

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
2049-Apr-17 15:55 0.287079 AU
42946416 km
14.34 km/s
2058-Oct-26 14:06 0.023378 AU
3497341 km
7.58 km/s
2060-Apr-09 21:18 0.108100 AU
16171603 km
9.81 km/s
2069-Oct-17 12:06 0.112070 AU
16765405 km
12.99 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
27.0

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.66098
Condition
8
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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