About Cerberus
Cerberus is an uncommon neo. It has spectral type S and swings within 0.576 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
Uncommon neo 29 EP
Cerberus
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 5 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Crosses Earth's orbit +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Near-Earth object +5
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit +4
- Stony asteroid +4
Total score 29
5 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Crosses Earth's orbit · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit · +4
- Stony asteroid · +4
Trivia
What makes it special
- It crosses our path. Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.58 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Venus.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 1.1 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.58 and 1.58 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is roughly 0.1× the height of Mount Everest.
Standing on it
- Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 0.72 m/s. A determined jump would launch you off it and into your own orbit around the Sun.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 1.2 km across.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.22
- aphelion au
- 1.58
- designation
- 1865
- diameter km
- 1.2
- eccentricity
- 0.4669
- full name
- 1865 Cerberus (1971 UA)
- h mag
- 16.77
- inclination
- 16.1
- mean motion deg day
- 0.8782
- moid au
- 0.156
- name
- Cerberus
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- APO
- perihelion au
- 0.576
- rotation period h
- 6.8039
- semi major au
- 1.08
- spec taxonomy
- S
- spect
- S
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Cerberus is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why Cerberus is an uncommon neo
Cerberus scores 29 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Near-Earth object, Crosses Earth's orbit, Has a proper name, Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit and Stony asteroid — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.