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.

Time: : UTC

Dwarf Planets and Asteroids »

Asteroid 8 Flora

Above the horizon. Rise: 13:40 | Tran: 20:42 | Set: 3:48

Alt: 42.19° Az: 227.90° Direction: South-West

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).

Finder Charts

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Map showing Asteroid 8 Flora in Leo on May, 15 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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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.

8 Flora
RA: 11h 16m 27s
Dec: +12° 37’ 01”

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 11h 17m 46s

Declination +12° 28’ 41”

Hour Angle 02h 17m 04s

Sidereal Time 13h 34m 51s

J2000

Right Ascension 11h 16m 27s

Declination +12° 37’ 01”

Additional Information

Constellation Leo

Magnitude 10.95

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 8 Flora from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 77.5° RISE 13:40

Max altitude: 51.0° TRANSIT 20:42

Azimuth: 282.5° SET 3:48

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

8 Flora is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
Right now it is placed in the South-West direction at an altitude of 42.19° above the horizon.
Given its current magnitude, 8 Flora 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 8 Flora from Earth is currently 292,622,889.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.9560631955 Astronomical Units. Light takes 16m 16.085s to travel from Asteroid 8 Flora and arrive to us.

Distance Km 292,622,889.0

Distance AU 1.9560631955

Light Travel Time 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:

Date Mon Oct 30 1922

Distance Kilometers 130,632,051

Distance AU 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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 8 Flora at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element	Symbol	Value
Orbit eccentricity	e	0.15639056
Orbit inclination	i	5.88919984°
Perihelion distance	q	1.85681598 AU 277,775,718 km
Aphelion distance	Q	2.54525894 AU 380,765,319 km
Semi-major axis	a	2.20103746 AU 329,270,519 km
Orbital period	period	3.2655 years 1,192.7230 days
Date of perihelion transit	Tp	2024-Feb-01 13:39:23 2,460,342.0690 JD
Next perihelion transit		2027-May-09 07:00 2,461,534.7920 JD
Argument of perihelion	peri	285.60923865392°
Longitude of the ascending node	node	110.86400357168°
Mean anomaly	M	256.9040989839°
Mean motion	n	0.30183036°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 8 Flora
View Asteroid 8 Flora in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Physical Data

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.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2025 May 08	11h 15m 49s	+13° 00’ 51”	10.80	Leo
2025 May 09	11h 15m 59s	+12° 57’ 18”	10.82	Leo
2025 May 10	11h 16m 10s	+12° 53’ 36”	10.84	Leo
2025 May 11	11h 16m 23s	+12° 49’ 45”	10.86	Leo
2025 May 12	11h 16m 37s	+12° 45’ 44”	10.88	Leo
2025 May 13	11h 16m 52s	+12° 41’ 35”	10.89	Leo
2025 May 14	11h 17m 09s	+12° 37’ 18”	10.91	Leo
2025 May 15	11h 17m 28s	+12° 32’ 52”	10.93	Leo
2025 May 16	11h 17m 48s	+12° 28’ 18”	10.95	Leo
2025 May 17	11h 18m 09s	+12° 23’ 36”	10.97	Leo
2025 May 18	11h 18m 31s	+12° 18’ 46”	10.99	Leo
2025 May 19	11h 18m 55s	+12° 13’ 48”	11.00	Leo
2025 May 20	11h 19m 20s	+12° 08’ 42”	11.02	Leo
2025 May 21	11h 19m 46s	+12° 03’ 29”	11.04	Leo

Ephemeris Calculator

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.