Dirichlet

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Outer Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (6.80 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Dirichlet orbits the sun every 2,170 days (5.94 years), coming as close as 2.81 AU and reaching as far as 3.76 AU from the sun. Dirichlet is about 6.8 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

No Close Approaches

Dirichlet's orbit is 1.84 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

Dirichlet's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 26, 1994. It was last officially observed on July 1, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,225 observations used to determine its orbit.

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 Dirichlet:

• 3789 Zhongguo (1928 UF)
• 4337 Arecibo (1985 GB)
• 8373 Stephengould (1992 AB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Dirichlet 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.

Size Rendering

The above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of Dirichlet to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.