# Mathilde

*In the Solar System*

A dark, carbon-rich asteroid, here because NEAR Shoemaker flew past it in June 1997 on the way to Eros. It turns once every 17 days, which is extraordinarily slow, and it carries craters nearly as wide as it is without having come apart - the explanation is that it is barely held together in the first place, about half empty space, and absorbs an impact instead of transmitting it.

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Radius | 26 km |
| Around the equator | 166 km |
| From the Sun | 379,741,075 km (-430,853 km/d) |
| From the Earth | 438,013,751 km (+1,182,734 km/d) |
| A signal takes | 24 min |

Distances and speed are computed from JPL Horizons trajectories and are true of 2026-09-05, changing at the rate given beside each. The interpolation itself is good to a few kilometres; what ages these figures is the date, not the arithmetic.

## Elsewhere

- On the live map: https://www.orbitalmap.space/?world=solar-system&focus=mathilde
- This object as a page: https://www.orbitalmap.space/o/mathilde/
- Every object: https://www.orbitalmap.space/o/
- What this site is and what it reads: https://www.orbitalmap.space/llms.txt