Osita

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (7.53 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Osita orbits the sun every 1,200 days (3.29 years), coming as close as 2.01 AU and reaching as far as 2.40 AU from the sun. Osita is about 7.5 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

The rotation of Osita has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 3.82 hours.

No Close Approaches

Osita's orbit is 1.00 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

Osita's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 2, 1962. It was last officially observed on July 5, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,909 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Osita 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 Osita:

• 8 Flora (A847 UA)
• 43 Ariadne (A857 GA)
• 228 Agathe (A882 QA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Osita 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.