Dioretsa

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Centaur-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Dioretsa is a mid-sized asteroid with an orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. NASA JPL has not classified Dioretsa as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Dioretsa orbits the sun every 42,400 days (116.08 years), coming as close as 2.34 AU and reaching as far as 45.26 AU from the sun. Its orbit is highly elliptical. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Dioretsa is probably between 4.371 to 9.773 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

No Close Approaches

Dioretsa's orbit is 1.43 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

Dioretsa's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 16, 1998. It was last officially observed on Dec. 29, 2000. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 278 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

This asteroid is not considered a viable target for human exploration by the NHATS study.

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Dioretsa 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.

Size Rendering

The above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of Dioretsa to create an approximate landscape rendering with Mount Everest in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.