Key Facts
- Categorized as a Inner Main-belt Asteroid
- Comparable in size to the island of Manhattan (3.53 km diameter)
- Not a Near Earth Object
- Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
- See orbit simulation
Overview
Ellen is a mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter within the inner portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Ellen as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Ellen orbits the sun every 924 days (2.53 years), coming as close as 1.75 AU and reaching as far as 1.96 AU from the sun. Ellen is about 3.5 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.
The rotation of Ellen has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 159.00 hours.
No Close Approaches
Ellen's orbit is 0.79 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
Ellen's orbit is determined by observations dating back to May 26, 1971. It was last officially observed on Sept. 3, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 2,317 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 Ellen:References
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or view a random objectOrbital Elements
- Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
- Semi-major axis: 1.857 AU
- Eccentricity: 0.055
- Inclination: 23.05°
- Longitude of Ascending Node: 344.55°
- Argument of Periapsis: 59.46°
- Mean Anomaly: 21.19°
Physical Characteristics
- Diameter: 3.52900 km
- Magnitude: 14.5
- Albedo: 0.292
- Spectral type (Tholen): SDU::
Derived Characteristics
- Orbit Period: 924 days (2.53 years)
- Avg. Orbit Speed: 21.86 km/s
- Aphelion Distance: 1.96 AU
- Perihelion Distance: 1.75 AU
- Rotation Period: 159.00 hours
Map Comparison
Orbit Simulation
Sky Map
The position of Ellen 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 Ellen 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.
