Patroclus is a large asteroid that shares Jupiter's orbit around the sun. NASA JPL has not classified Patroclus as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Patroclus orbits the sun every 4,340 days (11.88 years), coming as close as 4.48 AU and reaching as far as 5.94 AU from the sun. Patroclus is about 140.4 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut.
The rotation of Patroclus has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 102.80 hours.
Patroclus's spectral type P (Tholen) / None (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain .
Patroclus's orbit is 3.53 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.
Patroclus's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 21, 2013. It was last officially observed on April 5, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 2,141 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Patroclus 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.