Rebekka

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Indianapolis (28.90 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Rebekka orbits the sun every 1,360 days (3.72 years), coming as close as 2.03 AU and reaching as far as 2.78 AU from the sun. Rebekka is about 28.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Indianapolis.

The rotation of Rebekka has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 5.65 hours.

Rebekka's spectral type XDC (Tholen) / C (SMASSII) indicates that it is likely to contain water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

No Close Approaches

Rebekka's orbit is 1.03 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.

Images and Observations

Rebekka's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 19, 1905. It was last officially observed on July 5, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 5,978 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Rebekka 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 Rebekka:

• 20 Massalia (A852 SA)
• 25 Phocaea (A853 GB)
• 60 Echo (A860 RB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Rebekka 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.