Laon

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

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

Laon orbits the sun every 1,680 days (4.60 years), coming as close as 2.51 AU and reaching as far as 3.03 AU from the sun. Laon 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 Laon has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 5.60 hours.

No Close Approaches

Laon's orbit is 1.52 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.

Images and Observations

Laon's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 22, 1979. It was last officially observed on March 6, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,128 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Laon 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 Laon:

• 1 Ceres (A801 AA)
• 2 Pallas (A802 FA)
• 28 Bellona (A854 EA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Laon 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.