Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to Mount Everest (1.80 km diameter)
  • Will pass within 29,093,854 km of Earth in 2049
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

Morpheus is a mid-sized asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified Morpheus 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.

Morpheus orbits the sun every 1,270 days (3.48 years), coming as close as 0.52 AU and reaching as far as 4.07 AU from the sun. Its orbit is highly elliptical. Morpheus is about 1.8 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to Mount Everest.

The rotation of Morpheus has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 3.54 hours.

Morpheus's spectral type None (Tholen) / Sq (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain and .

Close Approaches

Morpheus's orbit is 0.10 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.

Morpheus has 6 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
May 10, 2049 29,093,854 27.825
April 27, 2056 23,092,593 22.053
Oct. 28, 2118 20,175,046 24.080
Oct. 23, 2125 26,500,623 27.057
May 7, 2171 28,566,828 25.729
April 25, 2178 28,379,684 21.535

Images and Observations

Morpheus's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 3, 1954. It was last officially observed on July 25, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,006 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 Morpheus:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 2.294 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.7724
  • Inclination: 12.6°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 7.01°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 122.56°
  • Mean Anomaly: 243.67°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 1.80000 km
  • Magnitude: 15.03
  • Albedo: 0.37
  • Spectral type (SMASS): Sq

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 1,270 days (3.48 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 19.65 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 4.07 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.52 AU
  • Rotation Period: 3.54 hours
  • Approx. Composition: and .

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Morpheus 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 Morpheus 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.