Antigone

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware (113.00 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Antigone orbits the sun every 1,770 days (4.85 years), coming as close as 2.26 AU and reaching as far as 3.48 AU from the sun. Antigone is about 113.0 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.

The rotation of Antigone has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 4.96 hours.

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

No Close Approaches

Antigone's orbit is 1.28 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

Antigone's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Dec. 7, 1876. It was last officially observed on May 3, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,978 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Antigone 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 Antigone:

• 33 Polyhymnia (A854 UB)
• 158 Koronis (A876 AA)
• 174 Phaedra (A877 RA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Antigone 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.