Asteroid 8 Flora has an orbital period of 3.27 years and a semi-major axis of approximately 2.2 astronomical units (AU), which places it in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered on October 18, 1847, by astronomer John Russell Hind, and is named after the Roman goddess of flowers and gardens. Flora has a diameter of approximately 136 kilometers and is irregularly shaped, with a rotation period of about 8.67 hours. Flora is also the largest member of the Flora family of asteroids, a group of objects that share similar orbital and physical characteristics. The Flora family is thought to have formed from the collisional breakup of a larger asteroid, possibly due to a collision with a planetesimal or a disruptive event in the early solar system. The study of Flora and its family of asteroids has provided important insights into the history and evolution of the main asteroid belt and the formation of the solar system.
Asteroid 8 Flora Position Calculator
Compute the position of Asteroid 8 Flora for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.
Asteroid 8 Flora is in the constellation of
Leo,
at a distance of 292,622,889.0 kilometers from Earth.
The current Right Ascension is
11h 17m 46s
and the Declination is +12° 28’ 41”
(apparent coordinates).
The magnitude of Asteroid 8 Flora is 10.95 (data provided by JPL Horizons).
Sky map showing Asteroid 8 Flora in Leo on May, 15 2025.
Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart
High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 8 Flora is right now.
Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 8 Flora.
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins.
View in deep sky object tracker
Also check out Where is Asteroid 8 Flora?,
a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 8 Flora in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
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Distance from Earth
The distance of Asteroid 8 Flora from Earth is currently 292,622,889.0 kilometers,
equivalent to 1.9560631955Astronomical Units.
Light takes
16m 16.085s to travel from Asteroid 8 Flora and arrive to us.
292,622,889.0
1.9560631955
16m 16.085s
The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 8 Flora 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.
Chart of the distance of Asteroid 8 Flora from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
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 8 Flora from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the
Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach
Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099,
the closest approach of
Asteroid 8 Flora to Earth happens on
Mon Oct 30 1922 at a distance of
0.873221 Astronomical Units, or
130,632,051 kilometers:
Mon Oct 30 1922
130,632,051
0.873221
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed
with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve
(visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 8 Flora,
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.
Chart of the magnitude of Asteroid 8 Flora as a function of time
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 8 Flora.
Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Physical Parameter
Value
Relative to Earth
Diameter
135.89 km
0.0107
Sideral Rotation
12.8650 hours
0.5375
Absolute Magnitude
6.49
Geometric Albedo
0.2426
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 8 Flora computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval.
Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
Compute the position of Asteroid 8 Flora for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and display the results on an interactive star map.
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
Asteroid 8 Flora: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com