Ninkasi

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Amor-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge
• Will pass within 27,682,172 km of Earth in 2073
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Ninkasi is a small asteroid whose orbit approaches the orbit of Earth but does not cross it. NASA JPL has classified Ninkasi as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

Ninkasi orbits the sun every 586 days (1.60 years), coming as close as 1.14 AU and reaching as far as 1.60 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Ninkasi is probably between 0.644 to 1.439 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The rotation of Ninkasi has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 21.10 hours.

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

Close Approaches

Ninkasi's orbit is 0.15 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.

Ninkasi has 7 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Images and Observations

Ninkasi's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 17, 1978. It was last officially observed on July 8, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 823 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 Ninkasi:

• 1685 Toro (1948 OA)
• 53789 (2000 ED104)
• 68031 (2000 YK29)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Ninkasi 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 Ninkasi 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.