List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2009

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]}

Date of closest approach	Object	Nominal geocentric distance (AU)[note 2]	Nominal geocentric distance (LD)	Size (m) (approximate)	(H)	Closer approach to Moon
2009-02-02	2009 CC2	0.00125 AU (187,000 km; 116,000 mi)	0.49	6-19	27.8[1]
2009-02-27	2009 EJ1	0.000414 AU (61,900 km; 38,500 mi)	0.16	4-14	28.4[2]
2009-03-02	2009 DD45	0.000483 AU (72,300 km; 44,900 mi)	0.19	15-47	25.8[3]
2009-03-06	2009 EW	0.00226 AU (338,000 km; 210,000 mi)	0.88	11-36	26.4[4]
2009-03-18	2009 FH	0.000568 AU (85,000 km; 52,800 mi)	0.22	10-33	26.6[5]
2009-03-19	2009 FK	0.00250 AU (374,000 km; 232,000 mi)	0.97	5-15	28.3[6]	Yes
2009-05-05	2009 JF1	0.00196 AU (293,000 km; 182,000 mi)	0.76	8-26	27.1[7]	Yes
2009-05-13	2009 JL2	0.00177 AU (265,000 km; 165,000 mi)	0.69	13-43	26.0[8]
2009-05-31	2009 KR21	0.00190 AU (284,000 km; 177,000 mi)	0.74	10-31	26.7[9]	Yes
2009-10-01	2009 TB	0.000464 AU (69,400 km; 43,100 mi)	0.18	3-10	29.2[10]
2009-10-05	2009 TD17	0.00173 AU (259,000 km; 161,000 mi)	0.67	6-20	27.7[11]
2009-10-08	2009 TU	0.00204 AU (305,000 km; 190,000 mi)	0.79	7-24	27.3[12]
2009-10-17	2009 TM8	0.00232 AU (347,000 km; 216,000 mi)	0.90	4-14	28.4[13]
2009-11-06	2009 VA	0.000137 AU (20,500 km; 12,700 mi)	0.053	4-13	28.6[14]
2009-11-12	2009 VZ39	0.00173 AU (259,000 km; 161,000 mi)	0.67	5-16	28.1[15]	Yes?[note 3]
2009-11-15	2009 WP6	0.00176 AU (263,000 km; 164,000 mi)	0.69	9-30	26.8[16]
2009-11-16	2009 WQ6	0.00235 AU (352,000 km; 218,000 mi)	0.91	3-10	29.2[17]
2009-11-20	2009 WJ6	0.00119 AU (178,000 km; 111,000 mi)	0.46	7-23	27.4[18]
2009-11-24	2009 WV51	0.00101 AU (151,000 km; 94,000 mi)	0.39	8-26	27.1[19]

Notes

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.
3. 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.

See also

• List of asteroid close approaches to Earth
• List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2008
• List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2010

References

1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 CC2)" (last observation: 2009-02-04).
2. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 EJ1)" (last observation: 2009-03-03).
3. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 DD45)" (last observation: 2009-03-06).
4. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 EW)" (last observation: 2009-03-06).
5. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 FH)" (last observation: 2009-03-18).
6. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 FK)" (last observation: 2009-03-19).
7. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 JF1)" (last observation: 2009-05-05).
8. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 JL2)" (last observation: 2009-05-13).
9. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 KR21)" (last observation: 2009-05-31).
10. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 TB)" (last observation: 2009-10-02).
11. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 TD17)" (last observation: 2009-10-11).
12. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 TU)" (last observation: 2009-10-18).
13. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 TM8)" (last observation: 2009-10-17).
14. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 VA)" (last observation: 2009-11-06).
15. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 VZ39)" (last observation: 2009-11-10).
16. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 WP6)" (last observation: 2009-11-20).
17. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 WQ6)" (last observation: 2009-11-19).
18. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 WJ6)" (last observation: 2009-11-20).
19. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2009 WV51)" (last observation: 2009-11-24).