Aruna

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Baltimore (15.06 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Aruna orbits the sun every 1,410 days (3.86 years), coming as close as 1.99 AU and reaching as far as 2.92 AU from the sun. Aruna is about 15.1 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Baltimore.

The rotation of Aruna has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 8.90 hours.

No Close Approaches

Aruna's orbit is 0.98 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a very 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

Aruna's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 15, 1949. It was last officially observed on Feb. 3, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,682 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Aruna 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 Aruna:

• 11 Parthenope (A850 JA)
• 138 Tolosa (A874 KA)
• 178 Belisana (A877 VB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Aruna 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.