About (12198) 1980 PJ1
(12198) 1980 PJ1 is a trash asteroid. It swings within 1.626 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
A Mars-crosser: its orbit reaches in far enough to cut clean across the path of Mars.
Trash asteroid 6 EP
(12198) 1980 PJ1
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 3 badgesTrash 15 pts → Common
- Mars-crosser +5
- Asteroid +1
- Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 6
9 more points to reach Common.
Badges
- Asteroid · +1
- Catalogue designation only
- Mars-crosser · +5
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 1.63 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Jupiter.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 3.1 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 1.63 and 2.66 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is roughly 0.3× the height of Mount Everest.
Standing on it
- Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 1.71 m/s. A determined jump would launch you off it and into your own orbit around the Sun.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 2.8 km across.
What's in a name
- Designation. Known only by its catalogue designation — no name yet.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.346
- aphelion au
- 2.66
- designation
- 12198
- diameter km
- 2.842
- eccentricity
- 0.2412
- full name
- 12198 (1980 PJ1)
- h mag
- 14.99
- inclination
- 4.55
- mean motion deg day
- 0.3142
- moid au
- 0.64
- name
- (12198) 1980 PJ1
- number only
- yes
- orbit class
- MCA
- perihelion au
- 1.626
- rotation period h
- 5.494
- semi major au
- 2.143
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, (12198) 1980 PJ1 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 (12198) 1980 PJ1 is a trash asteroid
(12198) 1980 PJ1 scores 6 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the trash tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Asteroid, Catalogue designation only and Mars-crosser — 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.