Gaspra

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Cleveland, Ohio (12.20 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Gaspra orbits the sun every 1,200 days (3.29 years), coming as close as 1.83 AU and reaching as far as 2.59 AU from the sun. Gaspra is about 12.2 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

The rotation of Gaspra has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 7.04 hours.

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

No Close Approaches

Gaspra's orbit is 0.83 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

Gaspra's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 19, 1913. It was last officially observed on July 4, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,767 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Gaspra 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 Gaspra:

• 8 Flora (A847 UA)
• 43 Ariadne (A857 GA)
• 228 Agathe (A882 QA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Gaspra 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.