Hela

Key Facts

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

Overview

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

Hela orbits the sun every 1,540 days (4.22 years), coming as close as 1.54 AU and reaching as far as 3.68 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Hela is probably between 13.383 to 29.925 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the city of Philadelphia.

The rotation of Hela has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 3.40 hours.

Hela's spectral type S (Tholen) / Sq (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

No Close Approaches

Hela's orbit is 0.63 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

Hela's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 21, 1902. It was last officially observed on July 1, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 5,492 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Hela 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 Hela:

• 53 Kalypso (A858 GA)
• 70 Panopaea (A861 JA)
• 78 Diana (A863 EA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Hela 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.