Meriam

7546 Meriam (1979 MB4)

Space Reference » Main-belt Asteroids » Meriam

Key Facts

Overview

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

Meriam orbits the sun every 1,290 days (3.53 years), coming as close as 2.06 AU and reaching as far as 2.57 AU from the sun. Meriam is about 2.0 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to Mount Everest.

No Close Approaches

Meriam's orbit is 1.05 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

Meriam's orbit is determined by observations dating back to June 23, 1979. It was last officially observed on Jan. 18, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 1,920 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 Meriam:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 2.316 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.1108
  • Inclination: 5.27°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 161.5°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 84.47°
  • Mean Anomaly: 230.85°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: 2.03800 km
  • Magnitude: 15.37
  • Albedo: 0.223

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 1,290 days (3.53 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 19.53 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 2.57 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 2.06 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of Meriam 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 Meriam 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.