Martamaffei

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to Mount Everest (2.60 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Martamaffei orbits the sun every 1,480 days (4.05 years), coming as close as 2.40 AU and reaching as far as 2.67 AU from the sun. Martamaffei is about 2.6 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to Mount Everest.

No Close Approaches

Martamaffei's orbit is 1.41 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

Martamaffei's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 13, 1994. It was last officially observed on June 23, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,256 observations used to determine its orbit.

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 Martamaffei:

• 292 Ludovica (A890 HB)
• 355 Gabriella (A893 BD)
• 421 Zahringia (A896 RE)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Martamaffei 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 Martamaffei 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.