Leolo

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the island of Manhattan
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Leolo orbits the sun every 1,640 days (4.49 years), coming as close as 2.35 AU and reaching as far as 3.10 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Leolo is probably between 2.515 to 5.624 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.

No Close Approaches

Leolo's orbit is 1.36 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

Leolo's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 10, 1994. It was last officially observed on June 12, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,884 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 Leolo:

• 45 Eugenia (A857 MA)
• 110 Lydia (A870 HA)
• 140 Siwa (A874 TB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Leolo 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 Leolo 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.