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 Gemini, at a distance of 278,123,629 kilometers from Earth.
View interactive star map
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 East direction at an altitude of 20° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 5 Astraea is visible with the help of a binocular with a 70-80mm aperture or a small telescope.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Asteroid 5 Astraea Position and Finder Charts
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
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 278,123,629 kilometers, equivalent to 1.859142 Astronomical Units. Light takes 15 minutes and 27.7206 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 |
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 Mar 22 | 06h 26m 12s | +21° 24’ 55” | 11.12 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 23 | 06h 27m 32s | +21° 26’ 58” | 11.13 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 24 | 06h 28m 53s | +21° 28’ 55” | 11.14 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 25 | 06h 30m 14s | +21° 30’ 48” | 11.16 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 26 | 06h 31m 36s | +21° 32’ 35” | 11.17 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 27 | 06h 33m 01s | +21° 34’ 18” | 11.18 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 28 | 06h 34m 26s | +21° 35’ 54” | 11.19 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 29 | 06h 35m 53s | +21° 37’ 24” | 11.21 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 30 | 06h 37m 19s | +21° 38’ 49” | 11.22 | Gemini |
2024 Mar 31 | 06h 38m 48s | +21° 40’ 09” | 11.23 | Gemini |
2024 Apr 01 | 06h 40m 18s | +21° 41’ 22” | 11.24 | Gemini |
2024 Apr 02 | 06h 41m 48s | +21° 42’ 30” | 11.26 | Gemini |
2024 Apr 03 | 06h 43m 21s | +21° 43’ 32” | 11.27 | Gemini |
2024 Apr 04 | 06h 44m 53s | +21° 44’ 29” | 11.28 | Gemini |