2017 WT28

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller (0.01 km diameter)
• A Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

2017 WT28 is a small asteroid orbiting the sun inside the belt of the inner planets. NASA JPL does not treat 2017 WT28 as potentially hazardous, because its orbit never carries it near Earth.

One lap around the sun takes 2017 WT28 312 days (0.85 years). Over that circuit it swings between 0.78 AU and 1.02 AU from the sun, travelling at an average of 31.39 km/s. At 0.0 kilometers across, 2017 WT28 is roughly the size of a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

The orbit of 2017 WT28 stays well clear of Earth's. Its predicted passes are listed below.

These 123 passes come from orbital simulations run by NASA JPL's CNEOS.

Images and Observations

The orbit of 2017 WT28 is pinned down by sightings going back to Nov. 27, 2017, the most recent officially logged on Dec. 16, 2017. The IAU Minor Planet Center holds 28 observations behind that solution.

Accessibility and Exploration

The NHATS study counts 2017 WT28 among the objects a crewed mission could reach.

Similar Objects

These objects follow orbits with much the same shape and tilt as 2017 WT28:

• Very small Aten-class Asteroid
• Very small Aten-class Asteroid
• Very small Aten-class Asteroid

References

• JPL Small Body Database
• Mission Design
• Sky Finder Chart

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

A ◯ pink circle marks where 2017 WT28 sits. It may fall outside your current field of view — use the controls below to change the position, location and time.