Vishnu

4034 Vishnu (1986 PA)

Near-Earth Potentially Hazardous
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » Vishnu

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to the U.S. Capitol building (0.42 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 23,450,947 km of Earth in 2025
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

Vishnu is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified Vishnu as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

Vishnu orbits the sun every 398 days (1.09 years), coming as close as 0.59 AU and reaching as far as 1.53 AU from the sun. Vishnu is about 0.4 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 90% of asteroids but tiny compared to large asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. Capitol building.

The rotation of Vishnu has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 44.40 hours.

Vishnu's spectral type None (Tholen) / O (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

Close Approaches

Vishnu's orbit is 0.02 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

Vishnu has 13 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
April 1, 2025 23,450,947 11.980
March 28, 2037 26,868,104 11.154
Sept. 7, 2070 28,325,701 9.747
Sept. 8, 2082 24,584,006 10.200
Sept. 8, 2094 25,692,033 10.069
Sept. 9, 2106 25,597,992 10.064
Sept. 9, 2118 27,739,915 9.828
Sept. 9, 2130 27,776,381 9.808
Sept. 9, 2142 27,450,800 9.854
March 26, 2169 29,699,244 10.724
April 1, 2181 25,236,199 11.569
Aug. 31, 2189 29,085,341 19.712
April 6, 2193 21,060,207 13.099

Images and Observations

Vishnu's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Aug. 2, 1986. It was last officially observed on Aug. 15, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 686 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 Vishnu:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.06 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.444
  • Inclination: 11.17°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 157.9°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 296.7°
  • Mean Anomaly: 258.94°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 0.42000 km
  • Magnitude: 18.52
  • Albedo: 0.52
  • Spectral type (SMASS): O

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 398 days (1.09 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 28.97 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.53 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.59 AU
  • Rotation Period: 44.40 hours
  • Approx. Composition: and .

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of Vishnu 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 below comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of Vishnu to create an approximate landscape rendering with New York City in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.