Massalia

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut (135.68 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Massalia orbits the sun every 1,360 days (3.72 years), coming as close as 2.06 AU and reaching as far as 2.75 AU from the sun. Massalia is about 135.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut.

The rotation of Massalia has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 8.10 hours.

Massalia's spectral type S (Tholen) / S (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

No Close Approaches

Massalia's orbit is 1.08 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

Massalia's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 29, 1856. It was last officially observed on June 21, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 9,356 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Massalia 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 Massalia:

• 25 Phocaea (A853 GB)
• 182 Elsa (A878 CC)
• 192 Nausikaa (A879 DA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Massalia 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.