(118230) Sado Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 30 November 1996 by N. Sato at Chichibu.
Sado, an island in the Sea of Japan, appears even in Japan's oldest history book Kojiki, dating to the eighth century. The island is currently famous as the place where Noh drama (one of the “World's Intangible Cultural Treasures”) took root in the lives of the people on the island.Naming citation (20070402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Sado is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Sado is 2.97 au from the Sun and 3.54 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 118230 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 WY2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Rotation period | 13.1 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.87 |
| Orbital period | 4.46 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.71 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.95 – 3.47 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.281 |
| Inclination | 11.1° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.965 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.