SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2018 GO4

2018 GO4

2018 GO4 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.616 AU it takes 2.05 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 97
Orbital Period · P
2.05 yr
v(q)
37 km/s
v(Q)
14.8 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.04 km
TJ
4.23
Eccentricity · e
0.4276

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.925 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 2.307 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 1.382 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.616 AU gives an orbital period of 2.05 yr, or about 750 days.

The high eccentricity (0.428) produces a strongly elongated orbit, so the object spends most of its time far from the Sun.

Its inclination of 1.93° keeps it close to the plane of the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 37 km/s at perihelion and falls to 14.8 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 = 24.5 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.04 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 97 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.5081 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
1.616 AU
Eccentricity
0.4276
Perihelion
0.925 AU
Aphelion
2.307002 AU
Inclination
1.93°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
326.65°

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
2053-Mar-22 07:52 0.497252 AU
74387827 km
24.06 km/s
2055-Apr-10 04:06 0.159052 AU
23793770 km
14.04 km/s
2057-Jun-05 10:34 0.095010 AU
14213226 km
7.67 km/s
2059-Aug-09 14:44 0.124839 AU
18675622 km
12.90 km/s
2061-Aug-29 02:12 0.464932 AU
69552811 km
22.97 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
24.5

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.50808
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.

Keep exploring

Explore asteroids, comets and near-Earth objects with JPL orbital data.