Asteroid 2017 WW1 to flyby Earth at a distance of 0.37 LD
Featured image: The green line indicates the object's apparent motion relative to the Earth, and the bright green marks are the object's location at approximately one-hour intervals. The Moon's orbit is grey. The blue arrow points in the direction of Earth's motion and the yellow arrow points toward the Sun. Credit: Minor Planet Center.
A small asteroid designated 2017 WW1 will flyby Earth at a distance of 0.37 LD / 0.00094 AU (~140 621 km / 87 378 miles) at 19:18 UTC on November 21, 2017. This is 50th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year.
2017 WW1 was first observed at Mt. Lemmon Survey at 08:41 UTC on November 20, 2017. It belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 3 and 6.8 m (9.8 to 22.3 feet).
This object will flyby Earth at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 12.66 km/s at 19:18 UTC today.
[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]
This is the 4th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance this month, 15th since October 2 and 50th since the start of the year. It is also one of the smallest.
Reference
Asteroid 2017 WW1 at Minor Planet Center; CNEOS
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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