2023 GQ2 is an asteroid roughly 400 meters in diameter, classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous object of the Apollo group. It was first discovered on 12 April 2023, when it was 1.3 AU (190 million km) from Earth, with the Bok Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.[1] On 19 April 2023, with an observation arc of 6.7 days, it was rated 1 on the Torino scale for a virtual impactor on 16 November 2028 at 00:58 UTC.[4] When it had a Palermo scale rating of –0.70,[4] the odds of impact were about 5 times less than the background hazard level and this gave the asteroid one of the highest Palermo scale ratings ever issued. On 20 April 2023 precovery images from May 2019 were announced extending the observation arc to 3.9 years,[1] and the 2028 virtual impactor was removed from the Sentry Risk Table.[2] It is now known the nominal approach will safely occur about 13 hours after the impact scenario on 16 November 2028 13:36 ± 40 minutes.[3]
The asteroid will come to aphelion (farthest distance from the Sun) around 1 August 2023.[5]
2028
With a short 6.7 day observation arc, virtual clones of the asteroid that fit the uncertainty region in the known trajectory showed a 1-in-24,000 chance that the asteroid could impact Earth on 16 November 2028 00:58 UT.[4] With precovery images and a 3.9 year observation arc, the nominal approach (line of variation) has the asteroid 0.012 AU (1.8 million km) ± 94 thousand km from Earth at the time of the potential impact on 16 November 2028.[6] The nominal closest approach will occur about 13 hours after the impact scenario on 16 November 2028 13:36 ± 40 minutes.[3]
2023 GQ2 nominal approach for 16 November 2028 00:58 virtual impactor