Cuyo

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Amor-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (5.70 km diameter)
• Will pass within 13,413,891 km of Earth in 2030
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Cuyo is a mid-sized asteroid whose orbit approaches the orbit of Earth but does not cross it. NASA JPL has classified Cuyo 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.

Cuyo orbits the sun every 1,150 days (3.15 years), coming as close as 1.06 AU and reaching as far as 3.24 AU from the sun. Cuyo is about 5.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

The rotation of Cuyo has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 2.69 hours.

Cuyo's spectral type None (Tholen) / Sl (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

Close Approaches

Cuyo's orbit is 0.07 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.

Cuyo has 4 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Images and Observations

Cuyo's orbit is determined by observations dating back to May 6, 1954. It was last officially observed on June 25, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,269 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 Cuyo:

• 1988 Delores (1952 SV)
• 2552 Remek (1978 SP)
• 2941 Alden (1930 YV)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Cuyo 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 Cuyo 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.