Arctictern

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay (6.80 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Arctictern orbits the sun every 1,610 days (4.41 years), coming as close as 2.55 AU and reaching as far as 2.81 AU from the sun. Arctictern is about 6.8 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the San Francisco Bay.

No Close Approaches

Arctictern's orbit is 1.54 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

Arctictern's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Sept. 19, 1973. It was last officially observed on April 2, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,398 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 Arctictern:

• 34 Circe (A855 GA)
• 64 Angelina (A861 EA)
• 75 Eurydike (A862 SA)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Arctictern 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 Arctictern 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.