Rita is a large asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Rita as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Rita orbits the sun every 2,900 days (7.94 years), coming as close as 3.36 AU and reaching as far as 4.60 AU from the sun. Rita is about 97.0 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.
The rotation of Rita has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 14.89 hours.
Rita's spectral type P (Tholen) / None (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain .
Rita's orbit is 2.35 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.
Rita's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 4, 1907. It was last officially observed on April 1, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,751 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Rita 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.