Wurm

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Boston
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Wurm orbits the sun every 1,220 days (3.34 years), coming as close as 2.08 AU and reaching as far as 2.39 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Wurm is probably between 7.772 to 17.380 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the city of Boston.

The rotation of Wurm has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 3.27 hours.

Wurm's spectral type None (Tholen) / S (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

No Close Approaches

Wurm's orbit is 1.09 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

Wurm's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 21, 1931. It was last officially observed on July 4, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,463 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Wurm 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 Wurm:

• 296 Phaetusa (A890 QB)
• 315 Constantia (A891 RB)
• 422 Berolina (A896 TA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Wurm 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.