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A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 5:39  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 20:14
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 19 Fortuna

Altitude: 34.2°   Azimuth: 175.5°   Direction: South

Asteroid 19 Fortuna was discovered by English astronomer John Russell Hind on August 22, 1852. It is a large main-belt asteroid with a diameter of approximately 200 km and an irregular shape. Fortuna's name comes from the Roman goddess of luck and fortune, and it was named by John Herschel, a British astronomer and son of William Herschel who discovered Uranus. Fortuna has a relatively short rotation period of 6.25 hours, and it orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter with a period of 3.9 years. It has been found to be a somewhat rare type of asteroid known as an S-type asteroid, which suggests a composition of silicate rock and metal.

Asteroid 19 Fortuna is currently in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 410,593,451 kilometers from Earth.

Finder chart of 19 Fortuna in Aquarius on April,27 2024
Map showing Asteroid 19 Fortuna in Aquarius on April, 27 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 19 Fortuna is 23h 08m 53s and the Declination is -04° 12’ 52” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 19 Fortuna is 12.45 (JPL).

23h 08m 53s
-04° 12’ 52”
Aquarius
12.45

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 19 Fortuna from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 94.3°
Max altitude: 34.3°
Azimuth: 265.8°
  • 19 Fortuna is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Right now it is placed in the South direction at an altitude of 34° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 19 Fortuna is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 4 inches (100mm) or more.
  • 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.

Additional Resources

Asteroid 19 Fortuna Position and Finder Charts

Finder chart of 19 Fortuna
Map showing Asteroid 19 Fortuna in Aquarius on April, 27 2024
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 19 Fortuna is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

19 Fortuna
RA: 23h 08m 53s
Dec: -04° 12’ 52”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 19 Fortuna
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Asteroid 19 Fortuna?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 19 Fortuna in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Asteroid 19 Fortuna Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 19 Fortuna from Earth is currently 410,593,451 kilometers, equivalent to 2.744648 Astronomical Units. Light takes 22 minutes and 49.5923 seconds to travel from Asteroid 19 Fortuna and arrive to us.

410,593,451
2.744648
22 minutes and 49.5923 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 19 Fortuna 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 19 Fortuna 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 19 Fortuna from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Asteroid 19 Fortuna to Earth

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 19 Fortuna to Earth happens on Fri Oct 15 1982 at a distance of 1.062725 Astronomical Units, or 158,981,460 kilometers:

Fri Oct 15 1982
158,981,460
1.062725

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Asteroid 19 Fortuna Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 19 Fortuna, 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 19 Fortuna as a function of time

Asteroid 19 Fortuna Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 19 Fortuna at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.15723131
Orbit inclination i 1.57340958°
Perihelion distance q 2.05861586 AU
307,964,550 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.82674802 AU
422,875,485 km
Semi-major axis a 2.44268194 AU
365,420,018 km
Orbital period period 3.8178 years
1,394.4367 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Nov-12 12:13:28
2,460,627.0094 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 182.54338740356°
Longitude of the ascending node node 211.03425010505°
Mean anomaly M 198.25485576423°
Mean motion n 0.25816876°/day

Visualization of Asteroid 19 Fortuna Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 19 Fortuna with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 19 Fortuna 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!

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 19 Fortuna
View Asteroid 19 Fortuna in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Asteroid 19 Fortuna Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 19 Fortuna. Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Physical Parameter Value Relative to Earth
Diameter 200 km 0.0157
Sideral Rotation 7.4432 hours 0.3110
Absolute Magnitude 7.13
Geometric Albedo 0.037

Asteroid 19 Fortuna 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 19 Fortuna computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 19 Fortuna in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Apr 20 22h 55m 55s -05° 34’ 00” 12.47 Aquarius
2024 Apr 21 22h 57m 42s -05° 22’ 59” 12.47 Aquarius
2024 Apr 22 22h 59m 29s -05° 11’ 58” 12.46 Aquarius
2024 Apr 23 23h 01m 14s -05° 00’ 56” 12.46 Aquarius
2024 Apr 24 23h 03m 00s -04° 49’ 54” 12.46 Aquarius
2024 Apr 25 23h 04m 45s -04° 38’ 52” 12.45 Aquarius
2024 Apr 26 23h 06m 30s -04° 27’ 47” 12.45 Aquarius
2024 Apr 27 23h 08m 16s -04° 16’ 45” 12.45 Aquarius
2024 Apr 28 23h 10m 00s -04° 05’ 40” 12.44 Aquarius
2024 Apr 29 23h 11m 45s -03° 54’ 37” 12.44 Aquarius
2024 Apr 30 23h 13m 31s -03° 43’ 32” 12.43 Aquarius
2024 May 01 23h 15m 15s -03° 32’ 27” 12.43 Aquarius
2024 May 02 23h 16m 59s -03° 21’ 24” 12.42 Aquarius
2024 May 03 23h 18m 42s -03° 10’ 19” 12.42 Pisces