Menelaus is a large asteroid that shares Jupiter's orbit around the sun. NASA JPL has not classified Menelaus as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Menelaus orbits the sun every 4,340 days (11.88 years), coming as close as 5.09 AU and reaching as far as 5.33 AU from the sun. Menelaus is about 42.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Rhode Island.
The rotation of Menelaus has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 17.74 hours.
Menelaus's orbit is 4.10 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.
Menelaus's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Nov. 8, 1951. It was last officially observed on March 28, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,244 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Menelaus 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.