SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 496981

496981

496981 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.661 AU it takes 2.14 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 167
Orbital Period · P
2.14 yr
v(q)
34.9 km/s
v(Q)
15.3 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.19 km
TJ
4.16
Eccentricity · e
0.3905

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 1.013 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 2.31 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 1.297 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.661 AU gives an orbital period of 2.14 yr, or about 782 days.

An eccentricity of 0.391 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

The orbital plane is tilted 8° relative to the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 34.9 km/s at perihelion and falls to 15.3 km/s at aphelion.

Size and surface

No direct size measurement is available; from an absolute magnitude of H = 21.38 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.19 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 167 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.5516 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
1.661 AU
Eccentricity
0.3905
Perihelion
1.013 AU
Aphelion
2.309621 AU
Inclination
8.0°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
0.18°

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

No close approaches to Earth are currently on record for this object.

Physical Parameters

Diameter
— km
Albedo
—
Density
— g/cm³
Rotation Period
— h
Absolute Magnitude
21.38

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.55159
Condition
0
Orbit ID
—
Data source: NASA JPL Small-Body Database . 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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