List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2009

Asteroid Close Approaches to Earth
2009
	After closest approach: 7 (36.8%) <24 hours before: 1 (5.3%) Up to 7 days before: 11 (57.9%) > one week before: 0 (0%) > 7 weeks before: 0 (0%) > one year before: 0 (0%) Time of discovery of asteroids which came closer to Earth than the moon in 2008
Other Years
	2000-2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Other Years
Time of discovery of asteroids which came closer to Earth than the moon in 2008Contents Timeline of close approaches less than one lunar distance from Earth in 2009 ; Warning Times by Size ; Notes ; Additional examples ; See also ; References ; After closest approach: 7 (36.8%) <24 hours before: 1 (5.3%) Up to 7 days before: 11 (57.9%) > one week before: 0 (0%) > 7 weeks before: 0 (0%) > one year before: 0 (0%)	2000-2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
	2000-2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Last updated April 30, 2024

Below is the list of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2009.

Timeline of close approaches less than one lunar distance from Earth in 2009

A list of known near-Earth asteroid close approaches less than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00256 AU) from Earth in 2009.^{[note 1]}

Rows highlighted red indicate objects which were not discovered until after closest approach

Rows highlighted yellow indicate objects discovered less than 24 hours before closest approach

Rows highlighted green indicate objects discovered more than one week before closest approach

Rows highlighted turquoise indicate objects discovered more than 7 weeks before closest approach

Rows highlighted blue indicate objects discovered more than one year before closest approach (i.e.
objects successfully cataloged on a previous orbit, rather than being detected during final approach)

This list does not include any of the objects that collided with earth in 2009, none of which were discovered in advance, but were recorded by sensors designed to detect detonation of nuclear devices.

Date of closest approach	Date discovered	Object	Nominal geocentric distance (AU)^{[note 2]}	Nominal geocentric distance (LD)	Size (m) (approximate)	(H) (abs. mag)	Closer approach to Moon	Refs^[1]^[2]
2009-02-02	2009-02-04	2009 CC₂	0.00123 AU (184,000 km; 114,000 mi)	0.48	7.3–16	27.8		data · 2009 CC₂
2009-02-27	2009-03-03	2009 EJ₁	0.00041 AU (61,000 km; 38,000 mi)	0.16	5.6–12	28.4		data · 2009 EJ₁
2009-03-02	2009-02-27	2009 DD₄₅	0.00048 AU (72,000 km; 45,000 mi)	0.19	18–41	25.8		data · 2009 DD₄₅
2009-03-06	2009-03-02	2009 EW	0.00227 AU (340,000 km; 211,000 mi)	0.88	14–31	26.4		data · 2009 EW
2009-03-18	2009-03-17	2009 FH	0.00057 AU (85,000 km; 53,000 mi)	0.22	13–28	26.6		data · 2009 FH
2009-03-19	2009-03-17	2009 FK	0.00250 AU (374,000 km; 232,000 mi)	0.97	5.8–13	28.3	Yes	data · 2009 FK
2009-05-05	2009-05-04	2009 JF1	0.00196 AU (293,000 km; 182,000 mi)	0.76	10–23	27.1	Yes	data · 2009 JF₁
2009-05-13	2009-05-12	2009 JL₂	0.00177 AU (265,000 km; 165,000 mi)	0.69	17–38	26.0		data · 2009 JL₂
2009-06-01	2009-05-31	2009 KR₂₁	0.00190 AU (284,000 km; 177,000 mi)	0.74	12–27	26.7	Yes	data · 2009 KR₂₁
2009-10-01	2009-10-02	2009 TB	0.00046 AU (69,000 km; 43,000 mi)	0.18	3.8–8.6	29.2		data · 2009 TB
2009-10-05	2009-10-09	2009 TD₁₇	0.00173 AU (259,000 km; 161,000 mi)	0.67	7.7–17	27.7		data · 2009 TD₁₇
2009-10-08	2009-10-10	2009 TU	0.00204 AU (305,000 km; 190,000 mi)	0.79	9.2–21	27.3		data · 2009 TU
2009-10-17	2009-10-15	2009 TM₈	0.00232 AU (347,000 km; 216,000 mi)	0.90	5.6–12	28.4		data · 2009 TM₈
2009-11-06	2009-11-06	2009 VA	0.00014 AU (21,000 km; 13,000 mi)	0.05	5.1–11	28.6		data · 2009 VA
2009-11-12	2009-11-10	2009 VZ₃₉	0.00174 AU (260,000 km; 162,000 mi)	0.68	6.5–14	28.1	Yes?^{[note 3]}	data · 2009 VZ₃₉
2009-11-15	2009-11-18	2009 WP₆	0.00176 AU (263,000 km; 164,000 mi)	0.69	12–26	26.8		data · 2009 WP₆
2009-11-16	2009-11-18	2009 WQ₆	0.00235 AU (352,000 km; 218,000 mi)	0.91	3.8–8.6	29.2		data · 2009 WQ₆
2009-11-20	2009-11-19	2009 WJ₆	0.00119 AU (178,000 km; 111,000 mi)	0.46	8.8–20	27.4		data · 2009 WJ₆
2009-11-24	2009-11-23	2009 WV₅₁	0.00101 AU (151,000 km; 94,000 mi)	0.39	10–23	27.1		data · 2009 WV₅₁

Warning Times by Size

This table visualizes the warning times of the close approaches listed in the above table, depending on the size of the asteroid. The sizes of each pie chart show the relative sizes of the asteroids to scale. For comparison, the approximate size of a person is also shown. This is based around the absolute magnitude of each asteroid, an approximate measure of size based on brightness.

**Absolute Magnitude**
Comments	Relative Size
(size of a person for comparison)
Absolute Magnitude 29-30
Absolute Magnitude 28-29
Absolute Magnitude 27-28
Absolute Magnitude 26-27
Absolute Magnitude 25-26 (Largest)

Notes

↑ For a list of current Earth close approaches see NEO Earth Close Approaches
↑ Distance from the center of Earth to the center of the object. See the NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics Glossary: Geocentric. Earth has a radius of approximately 6,400 km.
↑ The orbit of 2009 VZ₃₉ is known quite poorly- it could have passed as closely as 0.029 and as far as 3.1 LD from Earth, as well as anything from 3.4 LD to colliding head-on with the Moon. As such, the values are based on the nominal calculations. Considering a fireball would likely be noticed if it had collided with the Moon, as it would have created a crater over 150 meters in diameter, it can probably be concluded that the actual orbit was not too far from the nominal one- with a closest approach somewhere between 0.5 and 0.8 lunar distances.

Additional examples

An example list of near-Earth asteroids that passed more than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00256 AU) from Earth in 2009.

(136849) 1998 CS1 (~990 meters in diameter) passed 11.33 Lunar distances (4.4 million km) from Earth on 17 January 2009.
(208023) 1999 AQ₁₀ (~285 meters in diameter) passed 4.39 Lunar distances (1.7 million km) from Earth on 18 February 2009.
2009 FW₄ (~41 meters in diameter) passed 2.82 Lunar distances (1.1 million km) from Earth on 17 March 2009.
2009 DO₁₁₁ (~95 meters in diameter) passed 1.22 Lunar distances (468,000 km) from Earth on 20 March 2009.
(410777) 2009 FD (472 meters in diameter) passed 1.62 Lunar distances (624,000 km) from Earth on 27 March 2009.
(136617) 1994 CC (~990 meters in diameter) passed 6.55 Lunar distances (2.5 million km) from Earth on 10 June 2009.
2009 MU (~41 meters in diameter) passed 2.31 Lunar distances (889,000 km) from Earth on 24 June 2009.
2009 RY₃ (~41 meters in diameter) passed 1.94 Lunar distances (745,000 km) from Earth on 11 September 2009.
2009 SH₁ (~5 meters in diameter) may have passed as close as 1.01 Lunar distances (390,000 km) from Earth on 14 September 2009, but the nominal orbit suggests an approach nearer to 2.40 LD (922,000 km).
(68216) 2001 CV₂₆ (1277 meters in diameter) passed 9.79 Lunar distances (3.8 million km) from Earth on 8 October 2009.
(159402) 1999 AP₁₀ (~2067 meters in diameter) passed 29.68 Lunar distances (11.4 million km) from Earth on 20 October 2009.
2009 WV₂₅ (~54 meters in diameter) passed 2.91 Lunar distances (112,000 km) from Earth on 1 December 2009.

Related Research Articles

2014 HQ₁₂₄ is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Aten group, approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) in diameter. It passed 3.25 lunar distances (LD) from Earth on 8 June 2014. It was discovered on 23 April 2014 by NEOWISE. It is estimated that an impact event would have had the energy equivalent of 2,000 megatons of TNT and would have created a 5 km (3 mi) impact crater. The news media misleadingly nicknamed it The Beast. 2014 HQ₁₂₄ previously passed this close to Earth in 1952 and will not again until at least 2307. Radar imaging suggests it may be a contact binary.

2018 CN₂ is a very small asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 5 to 16 meters in diameter. It was first observed by astronomers of the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, on 8 February 2018, one day prior its close encounter with Earth at 0.18 lunar distances.

2018 DV₁ is a micro-asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Aten group, approximately 6–12 meters (20–40 feet) in diameter. It was first observed on 26 February 2018, by astronomers of the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, five days prior to its sub-lunar close encounter with Earth at less than 0.3 lunar distance.

2018 GE₃ is a sub-kilometer asteroid on a highly eccentric orbit, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 48–110 meters (160–360 feet) in diameter. It was first observed on 14 April 2018, by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey one day prior to its sub-lunar close encounter with Earth at 0.5 lunar distance. It is one of the largest known asteroids (possibly the largest) in observational history to ever pass that close to Earth (also see list).

2010 WC₉, unofficially designated ZJ99C60, is a sub-kilometer near-Earth asteroid of the Apollo group, approximately 100 meters (330 feet) in diameter. First observed for eleven days by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2010, the asteroid was recovered in May 2018 during its sub-lunar close encounter with Earth.

2020 LD is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 140 meters in diameter. It was discovered on 7 June 2020 when the asteroid was about 0.03 AU from Earth and had a solar elongation of 154 degrees. The glare of the Sun had masked the approach of the asteroid since November 2019. The asteroid passed closest approach to Earth on 5 June 2020 at a distance of 0.002 AU. The close approach distance is now known with an accuracy of roughly ± 1000 km. This is the largest asteroid to pass closer than the Moon this year and possibly the largest since (308635) 2005 YU55 in November 2011. The asteroid makes close approaches to Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. It will be brighter than apparent magnitude 24 until 18 July 2020.

References

↑ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". JPL Solar System Dynamics. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
↑ "MPC Database". IAU Minor Planet Center. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 1 January 2021.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] For a list of current Earth close approaches see NEO Earth Close Approaches

[2] Distance from the center of Earth to the center of the object. See the NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics Glossary: Geocentric. Earth has a radius of approximately 6,400 km.

[5] The orbit of 2009 VZ₃₉ is known quite poorly- it could have passed as closely as 0.029 and as far as 3.1 LD from Earth, as well as anything from 3.4 LD to colliding head-on with the Moon. As such, the values are based on the nominal calculations. Considering a fireball would likely be noticed if it had collided with the Moon, as it would have created a crater over 150 meters in diameter, it can probably be concluded that the actual orbit was not too far from the nominal one- with a closest approach somewhere between 0.5 and 0.8 lunar distances.

[nasa-jpl-ssd-database-3] "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". JPL Solar System Dynamics. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

[iau-mpc-db-4] "MPC Database". IAU Minor Planet Center. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 1 January 2021.

[note 1]

[note 2]

[1]

[2]

[note 3]

Other Years
2009
After closest approach: 7 (36.8%) <24 hours before: 1 (5.3%) Up to 7 days before: 11 (57.9%) > one week before: 0 (0%) > 7 weeks before: 0 (0%) > one year before: 0 (0%) Time of discovery of asteroids which came closer to Earth than the moon in 2008
2000-2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011