SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2012 VE46

2012 VE46

2012 VE46 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 0.713 AU it takes 0.60 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 77
Orbital Period · P
0.60 yr
v(q)
51.5 km/s
v(Q)
24.2 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.32 km
TJ
7.98
Eccentricity · e
0.3612

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.455 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 0.971 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 0.516 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 0.713 AU gives an orbital period of 0.60 yr, or about 220 days.

An eccentricity of 0.361 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

The orbital plane is tilted 6.67° relative to the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 51.5 km/s at perihelion and falls to 24.2 km/s at aphelion.

Size and surface

No direct size measurement is available; from an absolute magnitude of H = 20.2 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.32 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 77 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.4303 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
0.713 AU
Eccentricity
0.3612
Perihelion
0.455 AU
Aphelion
0.970536 AU
Inclination
6.67°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
43.74°

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
2027-Oct-07 21:03 0.455735 AU
68176955 km
21.58 km/s
2028-Feb-10 10:31 0.465300 AU
69607960 km
14.88 km/s
2029-Jun-06 11:05 0.498699 AU
74604314 km
15.88 km/s
2031-Feb-17 06:29 0.481424 AU
72019964 km
16.34 km/s
2032-Jun-13 12:28 0.483269 AU
72295956 km
14.37 km/s
2034-Feb-24 00:35 0.495762 AU
74164984 km
17.70 km/s
2035-Jun-22 05:09 0.464388 AU
69471438 km
12.66 km/s
2035-Oct-20 19:29 0.437412 AU
65435978 km
20.27 km/s
2038-Jun-30 14:43 0.441901 AU
66107393 km
10.67 km/s
2038-Oct-22 22:04 0.374719 AU
56057220 km
18.10 km/s
2041-Jul-09 20:22 0.415810 AU
62204274 km
8.48 km/s
2041-Oct-24 17:49 0.314729 AU
47082833 km
16.00 km/s
2044-Jul-21 03:25 0.384982 AU
57592497 km
5.70 km/s
2044-Oct-26 02:41 0.257905 AU
38582037 km
13.98 km/s
2047-Oct-27 23:03 0.197827 AU
29594556 km
11.81 km/s
2050-Oct-27 13:21 0.144654 AU
21639950 km
9.86 km/s
2053-Oct-25 08:14 0.098613 AU
14752241 km
8.15 km/s
2056-Oct-21 04:02 0.066895 AU
10007286 km
7.05 km/s
2059-Oct-16 19:10 0.046037 AU
6887014 km
6.55 km/s
2062-Oct-11 21:56 0.035258 AU
5274476 km
6.49 km/s
2065-Oct-08 02:35 0.033428 AU
5000732 km
6.67 km/s
2068-Oct-04 11:52 0.042246 AU
6319958 km
7.11 km/s
2071-Oct-02 04:32 0.067547 AU
10104944 km
8.05 km/s
2074-Sep-30 01:04 0.115892 AU
17337134 km
9.76 km/s
2077-Sep-29 18:17 0.174553 AU
26112714 km
11.82 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
20.2

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.43026
Condition
1
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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