Antinous

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to Mount Everest (2.10 km diameter)
• Will pass within 28,891,841 km of Earth in 2094
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Antinous is a mid-sized asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified Antinous 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.

Antinous orbits the sun every 1,240 days (3.39 years), coming as close as 0.89 AU and reaching as far as 3.63 AU from the sun. Antinous is about 2.1 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to Mount Everest.

The rotation of Antinous has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 7.45 hours.

Antinous's spectral type SU (Tholen) / Sq (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

Close Approaches

Antinous's orbit is 0.18 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.

Antinous has 1 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Images and Observations

Antinous's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 5, 1948. It was last officially observed on March 14, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,105 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 Antinous:

• 40 Harmonia (A856 FA)
• 72 Feronia (A861 KA)
• 298 Baptistina (A890 RB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Antinous 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 Antinous 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.