Near-Earth asteroid BENNU

Bennu

Near-Earth asteroid

A carbon-rich, top-shaped near-Earth asteroid sampled by OSIRIS-REx.

View in the 3D observatory

Illustrative surface and shape · Image credits

Equivalent diameter: 0.48444 km
Orbital semimajor axis: 1.126 AU
Model orbital period: 1.195 yr

01 / Overview

Meet Bennu

Bennu is a rubble pile of rocks held together by gravity. Its dark, rugged surface preserves clues to material from the early solar system.

Shape and composition

Bennu has an equatorial bulge that gives it a spinning-top outline, with boulders scattered across its surface.

Discovery and exploration

OSIRIS-REx collected material from Bennu in 2020 and delivered the sample to Earth in 2023.

02 / Key data

Core parameters

Equivalent diameter: 0.48444 km
Orbital semimajor axis: 1.126 AU
Model orbital period: 1.195 yr
Rotation period: 4.296 hours
Orbital inclination: 6.035 °
Orbital eccentricity: 0.20375

Data and calculation notes

Asteroid positions use epoch-based JPL orbital snapshots and a two-body approximation. Planetary perturbations and thermal radiation effects are omitted; this is not for close-approach or impact prediction. Except for Ceres's observed near-spherical fallback, scene shapes come from mission or PDS models. True sizes use equivalent radii; asteroids do not participate in eclipse calculations.

03 / Further reading

A closer look

Scale and orbit4

Bennu has an equivalent diameter of about 0.48444 km: the diameter of a sphere with the same volume.
A year on Bennu lasts about 1.20 Earth years.
Using this site's orbital elements, Bennu is about 0.897 AU from the Sun at perihelion.
Using this site's orbital elements, Bennu is about 1.356 AU from the Sun at aphelion.

Sources

Understanding the orbital model2

An orbital snapshot describes motion near its epoch; planetary gravity changes real orbits over time.
Near-Earth asteroid is an orbital classification; it does not mean an impact on Earth is imminent.

Sources

04 / Sources

Trusted sources

NASA Science — Bennu JPL — Orbital data

Image credits

Published global maps or surface-albedo data are applied only to the matching body. Pallas uses Carry et al.'s published K-band relative-albedo map, which covers about 80% of the surface; unobserved pixels are filled with the mean only to keep the matching model continuous. Psyche uses the per-facet relative-albedo map bundled with DAMIT model 1806. Juno has no downloadable global albedo map, so it keeps its own shape, JPL geometric albedo, and spectral material without borrowing another body's texture.

Surface texture：OSIRIS-REx Altimetry Working Group / USGS · License · Rendered by ORBIT