Venusia

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Outer Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware (77.33 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Venusia is a large asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Venusia as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Venusia orbits the sun every 2,940 days (8.05 years), coming as close as 3.14 AU and reaching as far as 4.89 AU from the sun. Venusia is about 77.3 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.

The rotation of Venusia has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 13.48 hours.

Venusia's spectral type P (Tholen) / None (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain .

No Close Approaches

Venusia's orbit is 2.15 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

Venusia's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 24, 1902. It was last officially observed on July 4, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 7,075 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Venusia 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 Venusia:

• 3557 Sokolsky (1977 QE1)
• 3655 Eupraksia (1978 SA3)
• 20628 (1999 TS40)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Venusia 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.