Willjenkins

Key Facts

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

Overview

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

Willjenkins orbits the sun every 1,780 days (4.87 years), coming as close as 2.76 AU and reaching as far as 2.98 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Willjenkins is probably between 2.928 to 6.547 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.

No Close Approaches

Willjenkins's orbit is 1.74 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

Willjenkins's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 1, 1998. It was last officially observed on June 22, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,448 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 Willjenkins:

• 33 Polyhymnia (A854 UB)
• 47 Aglaja (A857 RA)
• 129 Antigone (A873 CA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Willjenkins 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 Willjenkins 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.