Charlois

1510 Charlois (1939 DC)

Space Reference » Main-belt Asteroids » Charlois

Key Facts

Overview

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

Charlois orbits the sun every 1,590 days (4.35 years), coming as close as 2.27 AU and reaching as far as 3.07 AU from the sun. Charlois is about 24.5 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Indianapolis.

The rotation of Charlois has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 5.87 hours.

Charlois's spectral type None (Tholen) / C (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

No Close Approaches

Charlois's orbit is 1.29 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

Charlois's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 22, 1939. It was last officially observed on June 21, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,571 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Charlois 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 Charlois:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 2.671 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1493
  • Inclination: 11.83°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 331.36°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 164.87°
  • Mean Anomaly: 153.62°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 24.50700 km
  • Magnitude: 11.54
  • Albedo: 0.118
  • Spectral type (SMASS): C

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 1,590 days (4.35 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 18.28 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 3.07 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 2.27 AU
  • Rotation Period: 5.87 hours
  • Approx. Composition: water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of Charlois 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.