SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2012 DK4

2012 DK4

2012 DK4 is an Aten-type near-Earth asteroid whose orbit lies mostly inside that of Earth, with a semi-major axis of 0.892 AU and a period of 0.84 yr.

Aten Observations: 63
Orbital Period · P
0.84 yr
v(q)
37.9 km/s
v(Q)
26.2 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.07 km
TJ
6.65
Eccentricity · e
0.1817

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.73 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 1.054 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 0.324 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 0.892 AU gives an orbital period of 0.84 yr, or about 308 days.

An eccentricity of 0.182 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

Its inclination of 4.1° keeps it close to the plane of the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 37.9 km/s at perihelion and falls to 26.2 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 = 23.6 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.07 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 63 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.2799 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 7 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
0.8918 AU
Eccentricity
0.1817
Perihelion
0.73 AU
Aphelion
1.05384 AU
Inclination
4.1°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
193.55°

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
2032-Dec-19 15:56 0.134143 AU
20067523 km
9.09 km/s
2033-Jul-01 13:40 0.268012 AU
40093955 km
7.54 km/s
2038-Jan-01 15:00 0.473821 AU
70882610 km
20.34 km/s
2038-Aug-28 10:47 0.271995 AU
40689843 km
8.42 km/s
2039-Mar-19 15:22 0.175578 AU
26266051 km
11.44 km/s
2048-Dec-22 20:54 0.129192 AU
19326801 km
12.52 km/s
2050-Mar-10 13:57 0.297237 AU
44466036 km
19.12 km/s
2055-Mar-21 10:37 0.017444 AU
2609585 km
8.40 km/s
2064-Dec-25 08:03 0.149414 AU
22351946 km
14.60 km/s
2066-Mar-13 00:10 0.219980 AU
32908507 km
17.12 km/s
2071-Mar-21 08:11 0.016560 AU
2477271 km
7.03 km/s
2076-Jan-04 06:52 0.072840 AU
10896713 km
4.24 km/s
2076-May-24 07:19 0.209613 AU
31357693 km
4.63 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
23.6

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.27992
Condition
7
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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