Alain

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Indianapolis (22.90 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Alain orbits the sun every 1,980 days (5.42 years), coming as close as 2.60 AU and reaching as far as 3.57 AU from the sun. Alain is about 22.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Indianapolis.

The rotation of Alain has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 32.40 hours.

No Close Approaches

Alain's orbit is 1.60 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

Alain's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 30, 1930. It was last officially observed on July 5, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,860 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Alain 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 Alain:

• 52 Europa (A858 CA)
• 100 Hekate (A868 NA)
• 223 Rosa (A882 EA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Alain 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.