2013 JX28

2013 JX₂₈ (also known as 2006 KZ₃₉) is an Atira asteroid, a type of Aten asteroid, that orbits entirely within Earth's orbit. It orbits very close to the Sun, having the second smallest semi-major axis of any minor planet in the Solar System. At its closest, it is only 0.26 AU (39,000,000 km; 24,000,000 mi) 0.26 from the Sun, but more than 100 minor planets have a smaller perihelion distance.

Despite being officially classified as a near-Earth object, 2013 JX₂₈ has a MOID (minimum orbit intersection distance) with Earth of ~0.067 AU,^[2] making it highly unlikely to ever hit Earth. For comparison, the Moon orbits Earth at about 1/26th this distance.

Physical characteristics

2013 JX₂₈ has an absolute magnitude (H) of 20.1,^[2] which means it is rather small, with the size being approximately 300 meters based on an assumed albedo of 0.15.^[3] Its albedo is not known, so a size estimate is not certain. Assuming the albedo is between 0.05 and 0.25, it is somewhere between 260–580 meters in diameter.^[4]

163693 Atira, an asteroid with an orbit similar to 2013 JX₂₈, for comparison, has an absolute magnitude of 16.28 and is notably larger.

Close approaches

As a near-Earth object,^[2] 2013 JX₂₈ often comes within 0.1 AU (15,000,000 km; 9,300,000 mi)] of Earth. On April 29th, 2014, it traveled to 0.0843 AU from Earth, about 33 times further than the Moon. Below is a list of close approaches until 2100 where 2013 JX₂₈ travels closer than 0.1 AU to Earth.

References