Atira

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Interior-Earth Asteroid
• Comparable in size to Mount Everest
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Atira is a mid-sized asteroid with an orbit that is entirely confined within Earth's orbit. NASA JPL has classified Atira as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

Atira orbits the sun every 233 days (0.64 years), coming as close as 0.50 AU and reaching as far as 0.98 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Atira is probably between 1.401 to 3.134 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to Mount Everest.

The rotation of Atira has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 3.40 hours.

No Close Approaches

Atira's orbit is 0.21 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a 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

Atira's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 11, 2003. It was last officially observed on July 7, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 842 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 Atira:

• 85953 (1999 FK21)
• 162385 (2000 BM19)
• 264357 (2000 AZ93)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Atira 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 Atira 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.