Hera is a large asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in the main portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Hera as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Hera orbits the sun every 1,620 days (4.44 years), coming as close as 2.49 AU and reaching as far as 2.91 AU from the sun. Hera is about 83.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.
The rotation of Hera has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 23.74 hours.
Hera's spectral type S (Tholen) / S (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .
Hera's orbit is 1.48 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.
Hera's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 4, 1871. It was last officially observed on May 21, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 7,880 observations used to determine its orbit.
Scientists have been able to determine this object's shape:
View asteroid Hera in 3D.
The position of Hera 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.