Prudentia

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Rhode Island (40.97 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Prudentia orbits the sun every 1,400 days (3.83 years), coming as close as 1.94 AU and reaching as far as 2.97 AU from the sun. Prudentia is about 41.0 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Rhode Island.

The rotation of Prudentia has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 8.57 hours.

No Close Approaches

Prudentia's orbit is 0.93 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a very 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

Prudentia's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 13, 1901. It was last officially observed on April 16, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 4,975 observations used to determine its orbit.

Scientists have been able to determine this object's shape:

View asteroid Prudentia in 3D.

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 Prudentia:

• 11 Parthenope (A850 JA)
• 19 Fortuna (A852 QA)
• 42 Isis (A856 KB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Prudentia 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.