Arecibo is a large asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Arecibo as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.
Arecibo orbits the sun every 2,170 days (5.94 years), coming as close as 2.98 AU and reaching as far as 3.57 AU from the sun. Arecibo is about 19.7 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Denver.
The rotation of Arecibo has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 32.90 hours.
Arecibo's orbit is 1.97 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.
Arecibo's orbit is determined by observations dating back to April 24, 1933. It was last officially observed on Dec. 22, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,047 observations used to determine its orbit.
The position of Arecibo 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.