Ganymed

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Amor-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Houston (37.68 km diameter)
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Ganymed is a large asteroid whose orbit approaches the orbit of Earth but does not cross it. NASA JPL has classified Ganymed as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

Ganymed orbits the sun every 1,590 days (4.35 years), coming as close as 1.25 AU and reaching as far as 4.09 AU from the sun. Ganymed is about 37.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Houston.

The rotation of Ganymed has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 10.30 hours.

Ganymed's spectral type S (Tholen) / S (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

No Close Approaches

Ganymed's orbit is 0.35 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

Orbital simulations conducted by NASA JPL's CNEOS do not show any close approaches to Earth.

Images and Observations

Ganymed's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 23, 1924. It was last officially observed on Aug. 6, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 9,792 observations used to determine its orbit.

Scientists have been able to determine this object's shape:

View asteroid Ganymed in 3D.

Accessibility and Exploration

This asteroid is not considered a viable target for human exploration by the NHATS study.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of Ganymed:

• 3 Juno (A804 RA)
• 73 Klytia (A862 GA)
• 75 Eurydike (A862 SA)

References

• JPL Small Body Database
• Mission Design
• Sky Finder Chart

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Ganymed is indicated by a ◯ pink circle. Note that the object may not be in your current field of view. Use the controls below to adjust position, location, and time.