Philosophia

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut (123.89 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Philosophia orbits the sun every 2,060 days (5.64 years), coming as close as 2.55 AU and reaching as far as 3.79 AU from the sun. Philosophia is about 123.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut.

The rotation of Philosophia has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 26.47 hours.

No Close Approaches

Philosophia's orbit is 1.56 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

Philosophia's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 30, 1908. It was last officially observed on Feb. 3, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 6,376 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Philosophia 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 Philosophia:

• 199 Byblis (A879 NA)
• 252 Clementina (A885 TB)
• 297 Caecilia (A890 RA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Philosophia 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.