2019 BE5 explained

is a sub-kilometer near-Earth asteroid classified under the Aten group. It was discovered on 31 January 2019, by the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory. The asteroid was discovered one day after it had made a close approach to Earth from a distance of 0.00784abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit.

Orbit and classification

orbits the Sun at an average distance of approximately 0.61AU, taking 0.48 years or 174 days to complete one full orbit. It has an orbital eccentricity of 0.659 and a low inclination of 1.44 degrees to the ecliptic. The orbit of extends from 0.21 AU at perihelion to 1.01 AU at aphelion, crossing the orbits of Mercury, Venus, and Earth. As a result, it frequently makes close passes to these planets.

is classified as an Aten asteroid, which means that it is an Earth-crossing asteroid that has an orbital semi-major axis less than but an aphelion distance greater than Earth's perihelion distance of . Its orbit has a very small minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) with Earth, estimated to be approximately, or . Despite this small Earth MOID, a possible collision with Earth in the next 100 years has been ruled out by NASA's Sentry impact prediction system. With an absolute magnitude of 25.1, is too small to be classified as a potentially hazardous object.

Close approaches

On 30 January 2019, one day prior to its discovery, made a close pass by the Moon and Earth from within . The asteroid made its closest approach to the Moon from a distance of at 09:38 UTC, and then made its closest approach to Earth ten hours later, from a distance of at 19:36 UTC.

Physical characteristics

Given an absolute magnitude of 25.1 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.05–0.25, is estimated to have a diameter between NaNm (-2,147,483,648feet).

See also

• List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2019