About (55401) 2001 SX316
(55401) 2001 SX316 is a common asteroid. It swings within 1.651 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
A Mars-crosser: its orbit reaches in far enough to cut clean across the path of Mars.
Common asteroid 16 EP
(55401) 2001 SX316
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 4 badgesCommon 22 pts → Uncommon
- Brilliantly reflective surface +10
- Mars-crosser +5
- Asteroid +1
- Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 16
6 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
- Asteroid · +1
- Catalogue designation only
- Mars-crosser · +5
- Brilliantly reflective surface · +10
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 1.65 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Jupiter.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 3.7 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 1.65 and 3.16 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is roughly 0.4× the height of Mount Everest.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 3.5 km across.
What's in a name
- Designation. Known only by its catalogue designation — no name yet.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.462
- aphelion au
- 3.16
- designation
- 55401
- diameter km
- 3.484
- eccentricity
- 0.3131
- full name
- 55401 (2001 SX316)
- h mag
- 13.97
- inclination
- 21.25
- mean motion deg day
- 0.2646
- moid au
- 0.805
- name
- (55401) 2001 SX316
- number only
- yes
- orbit class
- MCA
- perihelion au
- 1.651
- semi major au
- 2.403
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, (55401) 2001 SX316 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 (55401) 2001 SX316 is a common asteroid
(55401) 2001 SX316 scores 16 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Asteroid, Catalogue designation only, Mars-crosser and Brilliantly reflective surface — 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.