Cotopaxi is a mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter within the inner portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Cotopaxi as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Cotopaxi orbits the sun every 1,020 days (2.79 years), coming as close as 1.73 AU and reaching as far as 2.24 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Cotopaxi is probably between 1.654 to 3.699 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to Mount Everest.
The rotation of Cotopaxi has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 7.10 hours.
Cotopaxi's orbit is 0.87 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a very 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.
Cotopaxi's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 24, 1960. It was last officially observed on July 1, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 968 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Cotopaxi 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.
The above comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of Cotopaxi 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.