Arawn

15810 Arawn (1994 JR1)

Arawn is the Welsh lord of the realm of Annwn, the Otherworld of the Mabinogi. A great hunter and magician skilled in shapeshifting, he is best known through his connection to Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed.

Key Facts

• Categorized as a Trans-Neptunian Object
• Comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• See orbit simulation

Overview

Arawn is a large asteroid whose orbit extends beyond the orbit of Neptune. NASA JPL has not classified Arawn as potentially hazardous because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth.

Arawn orbits the sun every 90,300 days (247.23 years), coming as close as 34.83 AU and reaching as far as 43.97 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, Arawn is probably between 76.658 to 171.412 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the U.S. state of Delaware.

The rotation of Arawn has been observed. It completes a rotation on its axis every 5.49 hours.

No Close Approaches

Arawn's orbit is 33.80 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is an extremely wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.

Orbital simulations conducted by NASA JPL's CNEOS do not show any close approaches to Earth.

Images and Observations

Arawn's orbit is determined by observations dating back to May 12, 1994. It was last officially observed on July 9, 2021. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 95 observations used to determine its orbit.