Billpickering

Key Facts

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

Overview

Billpickering is a mid-sized asteroid with an orbit that crosses the orbit of Mars. NASA JPL has not classified Billpickering as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Billpickering orbits the sun every 1,650 days (4.52 years), coming as close as 1.42 AU and reaching as far as 4.05 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Billpickering is probably between 2.424 to 5.421 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.

The rotation of Billpickering has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 10.40 hours.

No Close Approaches

Billpickering's orbit is 0.56 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a very 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

Billpickering's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 29, 1980. It was last officially observed on June 23, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 854 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Billpickering 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 Billpickering:

• 38 Leda (A856 AA)
• 110 Lydia (A870 HA)
• 125 Liberatrix (A872 RA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Billpickering 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 Billpickering 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.