Amaterasu is a mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in the main portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Amaterasu as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Amaterasu orbits the sun every 1,610 days (4.41 years), coming as close as 2.17 AU and reaching as far as 3.20 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Amaterasu is probably between 6.991 to 15.633 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.
The rotation of Amaterasu has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 5.73 hours.
Amaterasu's orbit is 1.20 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is an extremely 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.
Amaterasu's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 24, 1960. It was last officially observed on Feb. 2, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,037 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Amaterasu 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.