SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 488461

488461

488461 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.449 AU it takes 1.74 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 138
Orbital Period · P
1.74 yr
v(q)
67.3 km/s
v(Q)
9.1 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.31 km
TJ
4.12
Eccentricity · e
0.762

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.345 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 2.553 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 2.208 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.449 AU gives an orbital period of 1.74 yr, or about 637 days.

The high eccentricity (0.762) produces a strongly elongated orbit, so the object spends most of its time far from the Sun.

A steep inclination of 38.8° carries it well above and below the ecliptic plane.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 67.3 km/s at perihelion and falls to 9.1 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 = 20.28 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.31 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 138 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.6069 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
1.449 AU
Eccentricity
0.762
Perihelion
0.345 AU
Aphelion
2.553138 AU
Inclination
38.8°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
157.29°

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
2050-Mar-18 10:50 0.428958 AU
64171139 km
41.77 km/s
2057-Mar-13 01:09 0.321148 AU
48043057 km
38.27 km/s
2064-Mar-07 22:54 0.221310 AU
33107565 km
34.87 km/s
2071-Mar-04 09:00 0.149611 AU
22381488 km
31.77 km/s
2078-Feb-28 09:37 0.146901 AU
21976029 km
28.95 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
20.28

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.60694
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.