SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2020 WN5

2020 WN5

2020 WN5 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.173 AU it takes 1.27 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 23
Orbital Period · P
1.27 yr
v(q)
40.9 km/s
v(Q)
18.5 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.01 km
TJ
5.32
Eccentricity · e
0.3772

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.731 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 1.615 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 0.884 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.173 AU gives an orbital period of 1.27 yr, or about 464 days.

An eccentricity of 0.377 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

Its inclination of 0.17° keeps it close to the plane of the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 40.9 km/s at perihelion and falls to 18.5 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 = 27.96 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 23 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.4167 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
1.173 AU
Eccentricity
0.3772
Perihelion
0.731 AU
Aphelion
1.615456 AU
Inclination
0.17°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2459170.5
Mean Anomaly
49.69°

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
2048-Dec-11 02:36 0.326806 AU
48889460 km
7.73 km/s
2053-Nov-18 01:13 0.086571 AU
12950844 km
14.61 km/s
2057-May-11 21:15 0.000737 AU
110220 km
12.24 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
27.96

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.41667
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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