About Asclepius
Asclepius is a rare neo. It swings within 0.657 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
Rare neo 35 EP
Asclepius
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Passes within two lunar distances of Earth's orbit +18
- Has a proper name +8
- Near-Earth object +5
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit +4
Total score 35
15 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Has a proper name · +8
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit · +4
- Passes within two lunar distances of Earth's orbit · +18
Trivia
Handle with care
- What 'hazardous' means. 'Potentially hazardous' is bookkeeping, not a prediction: it means the orbit passes within 0.05 AU of Earth's and the body is big enough to matter. Nothing on that list is known to be on a collision course.
- If it ever hit. A rock this size arriving at a typical 20 km/s would release around 1049 megatons — about 21 times the largest bomb ever detonated.
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.66 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Venus.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 1 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.66 and 1.38 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 2.4 football pitches across.
Standing on it
- Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 0.15 m/s. A determined jump would launch you off it and into your own orbit around the Sun.
Properties
- aphelion au
- 1.39
- designation
- 4581
- eccentricity
- 0.3564
- full name
- 4581 Asclepius (1989 FC)
- h mag
- 20.74
- inclination
- 4.93
- mean motion deg day
- 0.955
- moid au
- 0.0038
- name
- Asclepius
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- APO
- perihelion au
- 0.657
- pha
- yes
- rotation period h
- 8.008
- semi major au
- 1.021
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Asclepius 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 Asclepius is a rare neo
Asclepius scores 35 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Near-Earth object, Has a proper name, Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit and Passes within two lunar distances of Earth's orbit — 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.