253 Mathilde
A remarkably dark, remarkably low-density body visited by NEAR Shoemaker in 1997.
Where it is right now
253 Mathilde is in Virgo, 2.61 AU away, magnitude 15.6.
Computed for 2 August 2026, 17:00 UTC, and recomputed at least hourly. This page is cached, so treat the line above as accurate to the hour rather than to the second. The map shows the live position.
Position from a Kepler propagation of the published elements below, accurate to about an arcminute.
Facts
Every line carries the source it came from.
- Diameter
- 53 kmSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Orbital period
- 4.3 yearsSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Distance from the Sun
- 2.647 AU on averageSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Orbit shape
- eccentricity 0.264, inclined 6.7 degrees to the eclipticSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Class
- Main-belt asteroidSource: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
- Discovered
- 1885-Nov-12 by Palisa, J.Source: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database
Physical size
- Mean radius
- 26.4 km
- Diameter
- 53 km across
- Absolute magnitude H
- 10.35
Orbit
Elements are heliocentric, referred to the J2000.0 ecliptic.
- Average distance from the Sun
- 2.647 AU (396.0 million km)
- Closest and furthest
- 1.947 AU (291.3 million km) to 3.347 AU (500.6 million km)
- Eccentricity
- 0.2643, noticeably elliptical
- Inclination to the ecliptic
- 6.74 degrees
- Orbital period
- 4.3 years (1,573 days)
- Longitude of ascending node
- 179.49 degrees
- Argument of periapsis
- 157.56 degrees
- Mean anomaly at J2000.0
- 223.64 degrees
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Catalog id mathilde. 3,172 objects on the map, of which 171 are hand-authored with sourced facts.