Kemi

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Mars-crossing Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Cleveland, Ohio
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Kemi is a large asteroid with an orbit that crosses the orbit of Mars. NASA JPL has not classified Kemi as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Kemi orbits the sun every 1,680 days (4.60 years), coming as close as 1.61 AU and reaching as far as 3.93 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Kemi is probably between 10.199 to 22.806 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

The rotation of Kemi has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 9.20 hours.

Kemi's spectral type BCF (Tholen) / C (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

No Close Approaches

Kemi's orbit is 0.87 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

Kemi's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 28, 1935. It was last officially observed on June 29, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 2,590 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Kemi 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 Kemi:

• 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 Kemi 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.