About Dersu-Uzala
Dersu-Uzala is an uncommon asteroid. It has spectral type A and swings within 1.622 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
A Mars-crosser: its orbit reaches in far enough to cut clean across the path of Mars.
Uncommon asteroid 22 EP
Dersu-Uzala
Position computed live · sbdb
Loading sky survey…
Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Has a proper name +8
- Barely turning (over 100 hours) +8
- Mars-crosser +5
- Asteroid +1
Total score 22
12 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Asteroid · +1
- Has a proper name · +8
- Mars-crosser · +5
- Barely turning (over 100 hours) · +8
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. A Mars-crosser: its orbit reaches in far enough to cut clean across the path of Mars.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 1.62 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Jupiter.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 2.6 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 1.62 and 2.2 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is roughly 0.7× the height of Mount Everest.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 6 km across.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.348
- aphelion au
- 2.2
- designation
- 4142
- diameter km
- 6.018
- eccentricity
- 0.1512
- full name
- 4142 Dersu-Uzala (1981 KE)
- h mag
- 13.16
- inclination
- 26.49
- mean motion deg day
- 0.3729
- moid au
- 0.705
- name
- Dersu-Uzala
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- MCA
- perihelion au
- 1.622
- rotation period h
- 276
- semi major au
- 1.912
- spec taxonomy
- A
- spect
- A
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Dersu-Uzala 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 Dersu-Uzala is an uncommon asteroid
Dersu-Uzala scores 22 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Asteroid, Has a proper name, Mars-crosser and Barely turning (over 100 hours) — 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.