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 354,581,496 kilometers from Earth.

The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 5 Astraea is 08h 04m 45s and the Declination is +20° 34’ 51” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom). The current magnitude of Asteroid 5 Astraea is 11.64 (JPL).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 5 Astraea from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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.

Additional Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Asteroid 5 Astraea?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 5 Astraea from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 5 Astraea rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 5 Astraea?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Asteroid 5 Astraea orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 5 Astraea with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• Physical data. Detailed information about physical properties of Asteroid 5 Astraea, such as mass and geometric properties.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 5 Astraea for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 5 Astraea in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 5 Astraea with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

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 354,581,496 kilometers, equivalent to 2.370231 Astronomical Units. Light takes 19 minutes and 42.7566 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.

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!

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 10	07h 49m 14s	+21° 03’ 59”	11.59	Gemini
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