Mashu is a large asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Mashu as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Mashu orbits the sun every 2,090 days (5.72 years), coming as close as 2.75 AU and reaching as far as 3.66 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Mashu is probably between 8.405 to 18.795 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the city of Boston.
The rotation of Mashu has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 10.62 hours.
Mashu's orbit is 1.76 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.
Mashu's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Jan. 9, 1965. It was last officially observed on June 23, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,555 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Mashu 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.