Ables

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Inner Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the island of Manhattan (4.29 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Ables is a mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter within the inner portion of the asteroid belt. NASA JPL has not classified Ables as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Ables orbits the sun every 1,010 days (2.77 years), coming as close as 1.89 AU and reaching as far as 2.04 AU from the sun. Ables is about 4.3 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the island of Manhattan.

The rotation of Ables has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 2.69 hours.

No Close Approaches

Ables's orbit is 0.90 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

Ables's orbit is determined by observations dating back to May 23, 1954. It was last officially observed on July 5, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,582 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 Ables:

• 1876 Napolitania (1970 BA)
• 4736 Johnwood (1983 AF2)
• 4868 Knushevia (1989 UN2)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Ables 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 Ables 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.