Picka

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Rhode Island (46.50 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Picka orbits the sun every 2,090 days (5.72 years), coming as close as 2.99 AU and reaching as far as 3.40 AU from the sun. Picka is about 46.5 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Rhode Island.

The rotation of Picka has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 5.07 hours.

No Close Approaches

Picka's orbit is 1.99 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

Picka's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 21, 1915. It was last officially observed on May 15, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 6,930 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Picka 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 Picka:

• 154 Bertha (A875 VD)
• 184 Dejopeja (A878 DA)
• 286 Iclea (A889 PB)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Picka 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.