2001 YB5
2001 YB5 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group that passed at a nominal distance of 0.0043767 AU (654,750 km; 406,840 mi) from the Moon and 0.0055633 AU (832,260 km; 517,140 mi) from Earth on 7 January 2002.
| Designations | |
|---|---|
Minor planet category |
|
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 7 | |
| Aphelion | 4.36299 AU (652.694 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 0.316468 AU (47.3429 Gm) |
Semi-major axis | 2.339727 AU (350.0182 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.864742 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 3.58 yr (1307.2 d) |
Mean anomaly | 313.434° |
Mean motion | 0° 16m 31.422s / day |
| Inclination | 5.54537° |
Longitude of ascending node | 108.444° |
| 115.206° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.00382892 AU (572,798 km) |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.698703 AU (104.5245 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
Synodic rotation period | 2.5 h (0.10 d) |
| 20.9 | |
The asteroid measures approximately 300 meters in diameter; insignificant enough in size to be only discovered later that year on 26 December 2002 by NASA's Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking program (NEAT). The nearest proximity it has reached Earth by was 830,000 kilometres which is approximately twice the distance to the Moon. Based on limited observations, the asteroid may have a 2.5 hour rotation period and a Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) from the Earth of 0.0038 AU (570,000 km; 350,000 mi). The findings of David Morrison of the NASA Ames Research Center claim that although YB5-sized objects in space commonly fly and orbit the Earth's proximity at such close distances annually, there are no indications of a YB5 collision on Earth as their predicted impact spans from about once every 20,000 to 30,000 years.