This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 5 badges
24 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon34 pts → Rare
Notably bright (low H)+8
Has a proper name+8
Carbonaceous — as old as the solar system+6
Asteroid+1
Main-belt asteroid+1
Total score24
10 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
🪨Asteroid· +1
💡Notably bright (low H)· +8
🏷️Has a proper name· +8
🥌Main-belt asteroid· +1
🖤Carbonaceous — as old as the solar system· +6
✨ Trivia
What it actually is
🛸Its orbit family. A main-belt asteroid, one of millions circling between Mars and Jupiter. Despite the films, the belt is so empty that every spacecraft sent through it has crossed without aiming for anything.
🌞Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 1.9 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Jupiter.
🔁One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 4.3 years.
🥏How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 1.9 and 3.41 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
🧱Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 3.9× the length of Manhattan island.
🚶Walk around it. Walking its equator at a steady pace, eight hours a day, would take about 6.6 days.
Standing on it
🥶Sunlight there. Even at its closest the sunlight is only about 28% as strong as Earth's.
By the numbers
📐Size. Roughly 84.1 km across.
Properties
albedo
0.05
aphelion au
3.41
designation
50
diameter km
84.074
eccentricity
0.2845
full name
50 Virginia (A857 TA)
h mag
9.43
inclination
2.84
mean motion deg day
0.2283
moid au
0.896
name
Virginia
named
yes
orbit class
MBA
perihelion au
1.897
rotation period h
14.315
semi major au
2.651
spec taxonomy
Ch
spect
Ch
About Virginia
Virginia is an uncommon asteroid. It has spectral type Ch and swings within 1.897 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
A main-belt asteroid, one of millions circling between Mars and Jupiter. Despite the films, the belt is so empty that every spacecraft sent through it has crossed without aiming for anything.
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Virginia 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 Virginia is an uncommon asteroid
Virginia scores 24 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Asteroid, Notably bright (low H), Has a proper name, Main-belt asteroid and Carbonaceous — as old as the solar system — 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.