Atossa

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (8.10 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Atossa is a mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in the main portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Atossa as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Atossa orbits the sun every 1,170 days (3.20 years), coming as close as 1.79 AU and reaching as far as 2.57 AU from the sun. Atossa is about 8.1 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

The rotation of Atossa has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 4.39 hours.

No Close Approaches

Atossa's orbit is 0.78 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

Atossa's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 8, 1915. It was last officially observed on June 10, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,608 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Atossa 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 Atossa:

• 149 Medusa (A875 SA)
• 244 Sita (A884 TA)
• 281 Lucretia (A888 UC)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Atossa 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.