Tezcatlipoca

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Amor-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the island of Manhattan (4.30 km diameter)
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Tezcatlipoca orbits the sun every 817 days (2.24 years), coming as close as 1.09 AU and reaching as far as 2.33 AU from the sun. Tezcatlipoca is about 4.3 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.

The rotation of Tezcatlipoca has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 7.25 hours.

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

No Close Approaches

Tezcatlipoca's orbit is 0.25 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.

Orbital simulations conducted by NASA JPL's CNEOS do not show any close approaches to Earth.

Images and Observations

Tezcatlipoca's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 19, 1950. It was last officially observed on May 16, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 6,739 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Tezcatlipoca 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 Tezcatlipoca:

• 1747 Wright (1947 NH)
• 11398 (1998 YP11)
• 11885 Summanus (1990 SS)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Tezcatlipoca 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 Tezcatlipoca 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.