Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a football field
  • Will pass within 6,351,368 km of Earth in 2032
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

Mjolnir is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified Mjolnir as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass(es) with Earth.

Mjolnir orbits the sun every 540 days (1.48 years), coming as close as 0.84 AU and reaching as far as 1.76 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Mjolnir is probably between 0.082 to 0.366 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a football field.

The rotation of Mjolnir has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 11.60 hours.

Close Approaches

Mjolnir's orbit is 0.02 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

Mjolnir has 19 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
March 1, 2032 6,351,368 8.129
Dec. 15, 2034 23,512,870 7.490
Oct. 17, 2037 10,847,707 11.083
Feb. 20, 2063 13,361,972 6.866
Nov. 23, 2065 19,772,179 6.784
Oct. 11, 2068 23,841,751 13.787
March 14, 2091 16,266,952 12.356
Jan. 23, 2094 21,773,380 7.217
Nov. 1, 2096 11,851,358 7.154
March 20, 2122 28,082,068 14.738
Feb. 20, 2125 13,892,597 6.836
Dec. 1, 2127 21,140,970 6.993
Oct. 15, 2130 18,557,604 12.718
March 5, 2156 4,788,510 8.493
Dec. 14, 2158 23,374,125 7.447
Oct. 17, 2161 15,202,498 12.038
March 14, 2184 14,374,080 12.013
Jan. 20, 2187 22,672,439 7.403
Oct. 30, 2189 9,113,043 7.751

Images and Observations

Mjolnir's orbit is determined by observations dating back to March 21, 1998. It was last officially observed on Oct. 20, 2003. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 196 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

Mjolnir can be reached with a journey of 370 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 10.421 km/s. To put this into perspective, the delta-v to launch a rocket to Low-Earth Orbit is 9.7 km/s. There are 1,183 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.

See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for Mjolnir.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of Mjolnir:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.298 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.3562
  • Inclination: 4.08°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 2.31°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 95.42°
  • Mean Anomaly: 130.79°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.224 km
  • Magnitude: 21.64

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 540 days (1.48 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 26.15 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.76 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.84 AU
  • Rotation Period: 11.60 hours

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Mjolnir 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 below comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of Mjolnir to create an approximate landscape rendering with New York City in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.