Asteroid 5 Astraea
5 Astraea is a relatively small main-belt asteroid located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered 8 December 1845 by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Hencke and is named after the Greek goddess of justice. Astraea has a diameter of approximately 119 kilometers and is irregularly shaped, with a rotation period of about 16 hours. Its surface is covered in numerous impact craters, some of which are several kilometers in diameter. Astraea's composition is thought to be a mixture of rock and metal, similar to the composition of the Earth's crust. It has a relatively low density compared to other asteroids, indicating that it may have a porous interior. Astraea orbits the Sun once every 4.14 Earth years and has been observed by ground-based telescopes, which have revealed insights into its geology, composition, and history.
Asteroid 5 Astraea is currently in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 355,720,501 kilometers from Earth.
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Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 5 Astraea from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- 5 Astraea is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom.
- Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 55° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 5 Astraea is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 4 inches (100mm) or more.
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Asteroid 5 Astraea Position and Finder Charts
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 5 Astraea is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Asteroid 5 Astraea?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 5 Astraea in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Asteroid 5 Astraea Distance from Earth
The distance of Asteroid 5 Astraea from Earth is currently 355,720,501 kilometers, equivalent to 2.377845 Astronomical Units. Light takes 19 minutes and 46.5559 seconds to travel from Asteroid 5 Astraea and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 5 Astraea from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 5 Astraea from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Asteroid 5 Astraea to Earth
Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 5 Astraea to Earth happens on Fri Feb 13 1925 at a distance of 1.093100 Astronomical Units, or 163,525,365 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Asteroid 5 Astraea Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 5 Astraea, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Asteroid 5 Astraea Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 5 Astraea at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Element | Symbol | Value |
---|---|---|
Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.18792368 |
Orbit inclination | i | 5.36012857° |
Perihelion distance | q | 2.09409950 AU 313,272,827 km |
Aphelion distance | Q |
3.06329633 AU 458,262,609 km |
Semi-major axis | a |
2.57869792 AU 385,767,718 km |
Orbital period | period |
4.1410 years 1,512.5131 days |
Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2024-May-06 19:49:09 2,460,437.3258 JD |
Next perihelion transit | 2028-Jun-27 08:07 2,461,949.8389 JD |
|
Argument of perihelion | peri | 358.88655645318° |
Longitude of the ascending node | node | 141.52276093715° |
Mean anomaly | M | 256.0291368156° |
Mean motion | n | 0.23801448°/day |
Visualization of Asteroid 5 Astraea Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 5 Astraea with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 5 Astraea and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Asteroid 5 Astraea in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Asteroid 5 Astraea Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 5 Astraea. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
---|---|---|
Diameter | 119.07 km | 0.0093 |
Sideral Rotation | 16.8000 hours | 0.7019 |
Absolute Magnitude | 6.85 | |
Geometric Albedo | 0.2268 |
Asteroid 5 Astraea 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 5 Astraea computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 5 Astraea in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 May 11 | 07h 51m 12s | +21° 00’ 41” | 11.60 | Gemini |
2024 May 12 | 07h 53m 11s | +20° 57’ 15” | 11.61 | Gemini |
2024 May 13 | 07h 55m 09s | +20° 53’ 43” | 11.61 | Gemini |
2024 May 14 | 07h 57m 06s | +20° 50’ 03” | 11.62 | Gemini |
2024 May 15 | 07h 59m 06s | +20° 46’ 17” | 11.62 | Gemini |
2024 May 16 | 08h 01m 05s | +20° 42’ 23” | 11.63 | Cancer |
2024 May 17 | 08h 03m 05s | +20° 38’ 21” | 11.64 | Cancer |
2024 May 18 | 08h 05m 04s | +20° 34’ 13” | 11.64 | Cancer |
2024 May 19 | 08h 07m 05s | +20° 29’ 57” | 11.65 | Cancer |
2024 May 20 | 08h 09m 06s | +20° 25’ 36” | 11.65 | Cancer |
2024 May 21 | 08h 11m 06s | +20° 21’ 06” | 11.66 | Cancer |
2024 May 22 | 08h 13m 06s | +20° 16’ 28” | 11.66 | Cancer |
2024 May 23 | 08h 15m 07s | +20° 11’ 45” | 11.67 | Cancer |
2024 May 24 | 08h 17m 09s | +20° 06’ 55” | 11.67 | Cancer |