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2015 XF261 is a Near-Earth Aten asteroid with an estimated diameter of between 16 m (52 ft) and 69 m (226 ft),[2] with next closest approach occurring on 21 February 2025 at 16:25 UTC[1] and closest approach of the 21st century occurring on 11 April 2090 at a distance of 381,649 km (0.00255 au). It completes one orbit around the Sun every 360 days.[3]
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| 2015 XF261 | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 2024-Oct-17 (JD 2460600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 1 | |
| Observation arc | 2,991 days |
| Aphelion | 1.306 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.674 AU |
| 0.990 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.319 |
| 0.985 years | |
| 85.851° | |
| Inclination | 0.794° |
| 209.835° | |
| 100.887° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.00230 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 3.929 AU |
| Physical characteristics[1] | |
| 25.25 | |
2015 XF261 is the target for an asteroid-deflecting mission planned by China in 2029, launching in 2027, two years after its previous launch target of 2025. Its original target was 2019 VL5. The spacecraft is planned to be launched on a Long March 3B in 2027, making a flyby of Venus before arriving at the asteroid in early 2029, and colliding with the asteroid in April 2029 at an estimated speed of 10 km/s (6.2 mi/s).[4]
- Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), another asteroid-deflecting mission which collided with Dimorphos
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