Ivar

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Amor-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (9.12 km diameter)
• Will pass within 26,550,477 km of Earth in 2046
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Ivar is a mid-sized asteroid whose orbit approaches the orbit of Earth but does not cross it. NASA JPL has classified Ivar as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

Ivar orbits the sun every 929 days (2.54 years), coming as close as 1.13 AU and reaching as far as 2.60 AU from the sun. Ivar is about 9.1 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

The rotation of Ivar has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 4.80 hours.

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

Close Approaches

Ivar's orbit is 0.11 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

Ivar has 4 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Images and Observations

Ivar's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 25, 1929. It was last officially observed on Aug. 7, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 12,806 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Ivar 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 Ivar:

• 1355 Magoeba (1935 HE)
• 1509 Esclangona (1938 YG)
• 1727 Mette (1965 BA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Ivar 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.