(459883) 2014 JX55 is an asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt. After its first observations as 2007 EB26 in 2007, it was considered an inner heliospheric asteroid and near-Earth object with one of the closest perihelions ever observed of any body orbiting the Sun,[4] until further observations invalidated the conclusions from early observations. The object measures approximately 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) in diameter.
When the object was first observed as 2007 EB26 by the Mount Lemmon Survey in March 2007, it was considered to have the second-smallest positive semi-major axis (0.55 AU) of any known object orbiting the Sun, after Mercury. It was classified as an Apohele asteroid, which always stay inside of Earth's orbit, approaching within 0.116 AU (17,400,000 km; 10,800,000 mi) of the Sun approximately every 148 days, before leaving for a distance of 0.98 AU, making it a Mercury- and Venus-crossing asteroid.[4] If these early orbital calculations had not turned out to be wrong, the object would still rank today among the inner heliospheric asteroids with the smallest known perihelia.[5]
The object remained listed as an inner heliospheric asteroid for several years,[6] until identifications with 2010 MV87 and 2014 JX55 and a subsequent improvement of the orbital uncertainty completely overturned previous calculations. 2014 JX55 is now a secured central main-belt asteroid orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.2–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,555 days; semi-major axis of 2.63 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 32° with respect to the ecliptic.[2][7]
