Amun

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the island of Manhattan (3.34 km diameter)
• Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Amun is a mid-sized asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified Amun as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

Amun orbits the sun every 351 days (0.96 years), coming as close as 0.70 AU and reaching as far as 1.25 AU from the sun. Amun is about 3.3 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.

The rotation of Amun has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 2.53 hours.

No Close Approaches

Amun's orbit is 0.25 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a 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

Amun's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 4, 1986. It was last officially observed on Dec. 20, 2018. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,692 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 Amun:

• 2062 Aten (1976 AA)
• 86450 (2000 CK33)
• 141424 (2002 CD)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Amun 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 Amun 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.