Teta

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Inner Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the island of Manhattan
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Teta orbits the sun every 1,030 days (2.82 years), coming as close as 1.67 AU and reaching as far as 2.32 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Teta is probably between 3.152 to 7.048 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.

The rotation of Teta has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 2.82 hours.

No Close Approaches

Teta's orbit is 0.66 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

Teta's orbit is determined by observations dating back to July 12, 1950. It was last officially observed on July 4, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,947 observations used to determine its orbit.

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 Teta:

• 3447 Burckhalter (1956 SC)
• 3940 Larion (1973 FE1)
• 4954 Eric (1990 SQ)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Teta 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.

Size Rendering

The above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of Teta to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.