Feronia

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware (74.97 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Feronia orbits the sun every 1,250 days (3.42 years), coming as close as 1.99 AU and reaching as far as 2.54 AU from the sun. Feronia is about 75.0 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.

The rotation of Feronia has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 8.10 hours.

No Close Approaches

Feronia's orbit is 0.99 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

Feronia's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 23, 1865. It was last officially observed on Dec. 25, 2022. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 5,668 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Feronia 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 Feronia:

• 40 Harmonia (A856 FA)
• 298 Baptistina (A890 RB)
• 827 Wolfiana (A916 QG)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Feronia 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.