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asteroid · near-Earth asteroid (C-type, carbon-rich)

Ryugu compared to Earth

Dark rubble-pile asteroid shaped like a spinning top, sampled by Japan’s Hayabusa2.

Can you see it?

No small telescope will show you this one; it is here to be understood, not spotted.

How big is Ryugu compared to Mount Etna?

Ryugu is roughly 1/39 as wide as Mount Etna.

How far away is Ryugu from the Sun compared to Earth?

Ryugu orbits on average about one and a quarter times as far from the Sun as Earth does.

How long is a year on Ryugu compared to Earth?

Ryugu takes about 16 months to go once round the Sun.

How long is a day on Ryugu compared to Earth?

Ryugu turns round once in about 7.6 hours; Earth takes about 24 hours. And Ryugu spins backwards.

Worth knowing about Ryugu

Why it stands out
The 2020 returned sample contained amino acids and vitamin B3, and later analyses found all five DNA/RNA nucleobases.
The machines we sent
JAXA’s Hayabusa2 touched down twice — even firing a copper “bullet” to dig up a fresh underground sample — and returned it to Earth in 2020.
Ryugu — A model of its measured shape, seen from the Earth and lit by the Sun: not a photograph, and not what a telescope shows.
The numbers
Mean diameter896 m
Distance from the Sun, on average1.19 AU · 178 million km · sunlight takes 9 minutes 54 seconds
Once round its orbit1.3 Earth years
Sunrise to sunrise7.628 hours — and it turns the other way, so the Sun there rises in the west

How anyone knows this

Games it appears in

Show Ryugu in the model☀️ Everything the Sun holds🌙 Plan an evening outside