Naef

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (7.92 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Naef orbits the sun every 1,340 days (3.67 years), coming as close as 2.05 AU and reaching as far as 2.69 AU from the sun. Naef is about 7.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

The rotation of Naef has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 11.01 hours.

No Close Approaches

Naef's orbit is 1.05 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

Naef's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 20, 1965. It was last officially observed on July 2, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,674 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Naef 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 Naef:

• 30 Urania (A854 OA)
• 51 Nemausa (A858 BA)
• 105 Artemis (A868 SA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Naef 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.