Isabella

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware (86.65 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Isabella orbits the sun every 1,640 days (4.49 years), coming as close as 2.38 AU and reaching as far as 3.06 AU from the sun. Isabella is about 86.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.

The rotation of Isabella has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 6.67 hours.

Isabella's spectral type CF (Tholen) / Cb (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

No Close Approaches

Isabella's orbit is 1.39 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

Isabella's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 9, 1885. It was last officially observed on Dec. 24, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,959 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Isabella 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 Isabella:

• 45 Eugenia (A857 MA)
• 59 Elpis (A860 RA)
• 146 Lucina (A875 LC)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Isabella 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.