SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 509520

509520

509520 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.67 AU it takes 2.16 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 216
Orbital Period · P
2.16 yr
v(q)
55.9 km/s
v(Q)
9.5 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.59 km
TJ
3.89
Eccentricity · e
0.7096

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.485 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 2.855 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 2.37 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.67 AU gives an orbital period of 2.16 yr, or about 788 days.

The high eccentricity (0.71) produces a strongly elongated orbit, so the object spends most of its time far from the Sun.

The orbital plane is tilted 13.71° relative to the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 55.9 km/s at perihelion and falls to 9.5 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 = 18.88 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.59 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 216 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.5012 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
1.67 AU
Eccentricity
0.7096
Perihelion
0.485 AU
Aphelion
2.855032 AU
Inclination
13.71°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
265.48°

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
2031-Mar-13 21:43 0.342430 AU
51226820 km
31.07 km/s
2035-Oct-03 21:59 0.379902 AU
56832536 km
13.70 km/s
2046-May-04 16:57 0.395891 AU
59224458 km
18.63 km/s
2050-Nov-09 11:45 0.359964 AU
53849777 km
32.93 km/s
2059-Mar-30 23:24 0.234462 AU
35075085 km
22.00 km/s
2063-Oct-26 13:07 0.185027 AU
27679701 km
23.44 km/s
2072-Mar-13 04:08 0.346412 AU
51822527 km
31.30 km/s
2076-Oct-07 05:34 0.364231 AU
54488161 km
14.16 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
18.88

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.50117
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.

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