Bertha

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Outer Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Maryland (192.61 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Bertha is a large asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Bertha as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Bertha orbits the sun every 2,090 days (5.72 years), coming as close as 2.96 AU and reaching as far as 3.45 AU from the sun. Bertha is about 192.6 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Maryland.

The rotation of Bertha has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 25.22 hours.

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

No Close Approaches

Bertha's orbit is 1.96 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

Bertha's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 12, 1880. It was last officially observed on July 1, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,079 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Bertha 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 Bertha:

• 184 Dejopeja (A878 DA)
• 300 Geraldina (A890 TB)
• 436 Patricia (A898 RC)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Bertha 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.