Mustel

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Mustel orbits the sun every 1,230 days (3.37 years), coming as close as 1.88 AU and reaching as far as 2.61 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Mustel is probably between 5.231 to 11.696 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

The rotation of Mustel has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 4.59 hours.

No Close Approaches

Mustel's orbit is 0.87 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

Mustel's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 8, 1915. It was last officially observed on Oct. 29, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,496 observations used to determine its orbit.

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 Mustel:

• 315 Constantia (A891 RB)
• 336 Lacadiera (A892 SA)
• 525 Adelaide (A908 UJ)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Mustel 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 Mustel 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.