Enid

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Outer Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Philadelphia (15.74 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Enid orbits the sun every 2,100 days (5.75 years), coming as close as 2.82 AU and reaching as far as 3.59 AU from the sun. Enid is about 15.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Philadelphia.

The rotation of Enid has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 11.68 hours.

No Close Approaches

Enid'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

Enid's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 17, 1972. It was last officially observed on April 1, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,233 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Enid 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 Enid:

• 154 Bertha (A875 VD)
• 184 Dejopeja (A878 DA)
• 300 Geraldina (A890 TB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Enid 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.