This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 5 badges
22 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon34 pts → Rare
Notably bright (low H)+8
Has a proper name+8
Stony asteroid+4
Asteroid+1
Main-belt asteroid+1
Total score22
12 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
🪨Asteroid· +1
💡Notably bright (low H)· +8
🏷️Has a proper name· +8
🥌Main-belt asteroid· +1
🧗Stony asteroid· +4
✨ 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 2.22 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Jupiter.
🔁One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 4.2 years.
🥏How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 2.22 and 2.95 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
🧱Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 3× the length of Manhattan island.
🚶Walk around it. Walking its equator at a steady pace, eight hours a day, would take about 5.2 days.
Standing on it
🥶Sunlight there. Even at its closest the sunlight is only about 20% as strong as Earth's.
By the numbers
📐Size. Roughly 65.8 km across.
Properties
albedo
0.1898
aphelion au
2.95
designation
101
diameter km
65.84
eccentricity
0.1404
full name
101 Helena (A868 PA)
h mag
8.39
inclination
10.19
mean motion deg day
0.2374
moid au
1.21
name
Helena
named
yes
orbit class
MBA
perihelion au
2.221
rotation period h
23.08
semi major au
2.583
spec taxonomy
S
spect
S
About Helena
Helena is an uncommon asteroid. It has spectral type S and swings within 2.221 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, Helena 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 Helena is an uncommon asteroid
Helena 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 5 science badges — Asteroid, Notably bright (low H), Has a proper name, Main-belt asteroid 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.