Sylvia

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Outer Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of West Virginia (253.05 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Sylvia orbits the sun every 2,370 days (6.49 years), coming as close as 3.15 AU and reaching as far as 3.80 AU from the sun. Sylvia is about 253.1 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of West Virginia.

The rotation of Sylvia has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 5.18 hours.

Sylvia's spectral type P (Tholen) / X (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain iron, nickel, and cobalt.

No Close Approaches

Sylvia's orbit is 2.17 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

Sylvia's orbit is determined by observations dating back to May 5, 1885. It was last officially observed on June 17, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 5,540 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Sylvia 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 Sylvia:

• 107 Camilla (A868 WA)
• 20664 Senec (1999 UV4)
• 25856 (2000 EZ170)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Sylvia 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.