Key Facts

Overview

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

San Marcello orbits the sun every 1,820 days (4.98 years), coming as close as 2.79 AU and reaching as far as 3.05 AU from the sun. San Marcello is about 11.2 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

The rotation of San Marcello has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 1.40 hours.

No Close Approaches

San Marcello's orbit is 1.81 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

San Marcello's orbit is determined by observations dating back to July 28, 1954. It was last officially observed on July 4, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,958 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 San Marcello:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 2.921 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.0434
  • Inclination: 12.78°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 173.95°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 327.62°
  • Mean Anomaly: 124.49°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 11.17500 km
  • Magnitude: 12.66
  • Albedo: 0.170

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 1,820 days (4.98 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 17.46 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 3.05 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 2.79 AU
  • Rotation Period: 1.40 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of San Marcello 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.