Key facts
- Category
- Asteroids
- Object class
- M-type main-belt asteroid
- Composition
- Metal-enriched silicate rock
- Scale fact
- 121 kmmaximum extent
- Mass
- ~1.7 quadrillion metric tons
21 Lutetia
121 kmmaximum extent
Explore 21 Lutetia to scaleVisual creditRosetta 2010 / Kevin M. Gill / ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team / CC BY 2.0Source: Wikimedia Commons
Details
Lutetia is a large M-type asteroid in the main belt and a likely surviving primordial planetesimal. The Rosetta spacecraft flew past it in 2010, making it the largest asteroid then visited by a probe.
Rosetta flew past Lutetia on 10 July 2010, imaging its cratered surface and using the asteroid’s pull on the spacecraft to refine its mass. Combined with the measured volume, that produced a bulk density of about 3,400 kilograms per cubic meter. ESA’s analysis indicates a significant iron content, though not necessarily an iron core, while surface spectra point to primitive material.
Links
- Preset views
- Wikipedia
- 21 Lutetia on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near 21 Lutetia on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, 21 Lutetia falls between Cygnus X-1 and Epimetheus. The band uses nearby Asteroids records.
Shared physical scale
438km
Sources
References for 21 Lutetia
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- 21 Lutetia — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Rosetta 2010 / Kevin M. Gill / ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team, CC BY 2.0)
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.