Asteroid 2018 YO2 flew past Earth at 0.51 lunar distances
A small asteroid designated 2018 YO2 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.51 LD / 0.00131 AU (195 973 km / 121 772 miles) on December 28, 2018.
This object belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was first observed at Palomar Mountain, ZTF on December 29, 2018, and reported by the CNEOS on January 2, 2019.
2018 YO2 has an estimated diameter between 2.9 and 6.5 m (9.5 and 21.3 feet).
It flew past us at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 4.3 km/s at 06:27 UTC on December 28, 2018.
[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Mission Design | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]
This is 75th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of 2018 and 4th during December 2018.
References
Asteroid 2018 YO2 at Minor Planet Center; at CNEOS
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 half 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
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