This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 4 badges
18 pts · Common
Common22 pts → Uncommon
Notably bright (low H)+8
Has a proper name+8
Asteroid+1
Main-belt asteroid+1
Total score18
4 more points to reach Uncommon.
Badges
🪨Asteroid· +1
💡Notably bright (low H)· +8
🏷️Has a proper name· +8
🥌Main-belt asteroid· +1
✨ 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 1.78 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 1.78 and 3.39 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 days.
Standing on it
🥶Sunlight there. Even at its closest the sunlight is only about 31% as strong as Earth's.
By the numbers
📐Size. Roughly 63.9 km across.
Properties
albedo
0.11
aphelion au
3.39
designation
679
diameter km
63.909
eccentricity
0.3103
full name
679 Pax (A909 BR)
h mag
9.13
inclination
24.42
mean motion deg day
0.2371
moid au
0.959
name
Pax
named
yes
orbit class
MBA
perihelion au
1.783
rotation period h
8.452
semi major au
2.585
spec taxonomy
K
spect
K
About Pax
Pax is a common asteroid. It has spectral type K and swings within 1.783 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, Pax 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 Pax is a common asteroid
Pax scores 18 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 4 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Asteroid, Notably bright (low H), Has a proper name and Main-belt 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.