About Potomac
Potomac is a rare asteroid. It has spectral type X and swings within 3.259 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
An outer main-belt asteroid, out towards Jupiter where the rocks grow darker and richer in carbon and ice.
Rare asteroid 42 EP
Potomac
Position computed live · asteroid
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Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 6 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Metal-rich asteroid +14
- Darker than charcoal +10
- Notably bright (low H) +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Asteroid +1
- Main-belt asteroid +1
Total score 42
8 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Asteroid · +1
- Notably bright (low H) · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Main-belt asteroid · +1
- Darker than charcoal · +10
- Metal-rich asteroid · +14
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. An outer main-belt asteroid, out towards Jupiter where the rocks grow darker and richer in carbon and ice.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 3.26 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Jupiter.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 8 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 3.26 and 4.72 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 3.4× the length of Manhattan island.
- Walk around it. Walking its equator at a steady pace, eight hours a day, would take about 5.7 days.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 73 km across.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.043
- aphelion au
- 4.72
- designation
- 1345
- diameter km
- 72.976
- eccentricity
- 0.1834
- full name
- 1345 Potomac (A908 CE)
- h mag
- 9.83
- inclination
- 11.41
- mean motion deg day
- 0.1236
- moid au
- 2.28
- name
- Potomac
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- OMB
- perihelion au
- 3.259
- rotation period h
- 11.42
- semi major au
- 3.99
- spec taxonomy
- X
- spect
- X
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Potomac 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 Potomac is a rare asteroid
Potomac scores 42 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 6 science badges — Asteroid, Notably bright (low H), Has a proper name, Main-belt asteroid, Darker than charcoal and Metal-rich 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.