Dembowska

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut (139.77 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Dembowska orbits the sun every 1,830 days (5.01 years), coming as close as 2.66 AU and reaching as far as 3.18 AU from the sun. Dembowska is about 139.8 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut.

The rotation of Dembowska has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 4.70 hours.

Dembowska's spectral type R (Tholen) / R (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

No Close Approaches

Dembowska's orbit is 1.66 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

Dembowska's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 11, 1892. It was last officially observed on April 15, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,042 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Dembowska 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 Dembowska:

• 16 Psyche (A852 FA)
• 231 Vindobona (A882 RB)
• 406 Erna (A895 QA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Dembowska 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.