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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3)

Above the horizon.  Circumpolar today
Alt: 48.26°   Az: 71.71°   Direction: East-North-East

Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) is in the constellation of Perseus, at a distance of 168,021,319.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 06m 57s and the Declination is +45° 33’ 24” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) is 16.87 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) in Perseus on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) in Perseus on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

3122 Florence (1981 ET3)
RA: 04h 05m 10s
Dec: +45° 29’ 24”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 06m 57s
+45° 33’ 24”
19h 41m 55s
23h 48m 53s

J2000

04h 05m 10s
+45° 29’ 24”

Additional Information

Perseus
16.87

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) is circumpolar and transits at 18:11 UTC reaching a maximum altitude of 84.1°.
  • 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East-North-East direction at an altitude of 48.26° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • 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 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) from Earth is currently 168,021,319.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.1231531453 Astronomical Units. Light takes 9m 20.459s to travel from Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) and arrive to us.

168,021,319.0
1.1231531453
9m 20.459s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) 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 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) 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 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) to Earth happens on Sat Sep 2 2017 at a distance of 0.047399 Astronomical Units, or 7,090,844 kilometers:

Sat Sep 2 2017
7,090,844
0.047399

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 3122 Florence (1981 ET3), 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 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) at epoch 16 October 2024 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460600.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.42310672
Orbit inclination i 22.13906707°
Perihelion distance q 1.02056900 AU
152,674,949 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.51758629 AU
376,625,549 km
Semi-major axis a 1.76907764 AU
264,650,249 km
Orbital period period 2.3530 years
859.4463 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Oct-15 09:24:30
2,460,598.8920 JD
Next perihelion transit 2027-Feb-21 20:07
2,461,458.3384 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 27.901399914009°
Longitude of the ascending node node 336.04944811459°
Mean anomaly M 0.67354214145658°
Mean motion n 0.41887432°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3)
View Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) 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 Feb 11 03h 38m 22s +47° 21’ 15” 16.65 Perseus
2025 Feb 12 03h 42m 18s +47° 07’ 09” 16.68 Perseus
2025 Feb 13 03h 46m 11s +46° 53’ 01” 16.71 Perseus
2025 Feb 14 03h 50m 01s +46° 38’ 50” 16.74 Perseus
2025 Feb 15 03h 53m 48s +46° 24’ 35” 16.77 Perseus
2025 Feb 16 03h 57m 32s +46° 10’ 19” 16.79 Perseus
2025 Feb 17 04h 01m 13s +45° 56’ 01” 16.82 Perseus
2025 Feb 18 04h 04m 52s +45° 41’ 42” 16.85 Perseus
2025 Feb 19 04h 08m 27s +45° 27’ 22” 16.88 Perseus
2025 Feb 20 04h 12m 01s +45° 13’ 02” 16.91 Perseus
2025 Feb 21 04h 15m 32s +44° 58’ 42” 16.94 Perseus
2025 Feb 22 04h 19m 00s +44° 44’ 23” 16.97 Perseus
2025 Feb 23 04h 22m 26s +44° 30’ 04” 16.99 Perseus
2025 Feb 24 04h 25m 49s +44° 15’ 47” 17.02 Perseus

Additional Resources