Ida

Ida — asteroid, explore its interactive 3D model in Cosmoscope.

Explore Ida in a live 3D Solar System. Follow its calculated motion and inspect real astronomical data, distances and orbital facts.

A cratered, 60-km-long potato that gave us the first confirmed asteroid moon: images from Galileo’s 1993 flyby caught tiny Dactyl beside it. Dactyl is shown at its observed distance, since its exact orbit was never pinned down.

Model extent

58.0 × 30.2 × 22.7 km

Discovered

1884 — Johann Palisa, Vienna

Visited

Galileo flyby, 28 Aug 1993

Day

4 h 38 m

Moon

Dactyl, ~1.4 km — the first asteroid moon ever found

Dactyl’s path

Illustrative — a ~90 km circle; its real orbit is uncertain

Model

Galileo images · Thomas et al. 1996 · NASA PDS

Attitude

Illustrative; not a predicted pole orientation

Explore Ida in 3D

Cosmoscope places Ida in the Solar System using astronomical ephemeris or orbital elements, updated for the simulation time. Explore its calculated motion, distance and orbital facts in the interactive 3D view. Accuracy depends on the orbital model and its valid time range.