Rosalinde

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Comparable in size to the city of Denver (19.62 km diameter)
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

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

Rosalinde orbits the sun every 1,420 days (3.89 years), coming as close as 2.07 AU and reaching as far as 2.87 AU from the sun. Rosalinde is about 19.6 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, comparable in size to the city of Denver.

The rotation of Rosalinde has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 16.69 hours.

No Close Approaches

Rosalinde's orbit is 1.08 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

Rosalinde's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Aug. 10, 1918. It was last officially observed on July 4, 2023. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 3,814 observations used to determine its orbit.

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

View asteroid Rosalinde 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 Rosalinde:

• 17 Thetis (A852 HA)
• 248 Lameia (A885 LA)
• 329 Svea (A892 FG)

References

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

Orbit Simulation

Sky Map

The position of Rosalinde 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.