Nirenberg

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (7.93 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Nirenberg is a mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in the main portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Nirenberg as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Nirenberg orbits the sun every 1,340 days (3.67 years), coming as close as 1.89 AU and reaching as far as 2.86 AU from the sun. Nirenberg is about 7.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

The rotation of Nirenberg has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 43.47 hours.

No Close Approaches

Nirenberg's orbit is 0.89 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a very 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

Nirenberg's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 21, 1980. It was last officially observed on Feb. 3, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 2,854 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Nirenberg 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 Nirenberg:

• 105 Artemis (A868 SA)
• 113 Amalthea (A871 EA)
• 115 Thyra (A871 PA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Nirenberg 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.