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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: 5:45  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 20:09
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed

Altitude: 39.6°   Azimuth: 193.3°   Direction: South-South-West

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed was discovered by Walter Baade on October 23, 1924. It is a large and irregularly shaped asteroid that belongs to the group of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and has a diameter of approximately 35 kilometers. Ganymed is the largest known NEO. It has a rotation period of approximately 10.3 hours and an orbital period of 4.34 years, with a perihelion distance of 1.2421 astronomical units (AU) and an aphelion distance of 4.0837 AU. Its name comes from the mythological figure Ganymede, who was a cup-bearer to the gods in Greek mythology.

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed is currently in the constellation of Aquila, at a distance of 204,685,848 kilometers from Earth.

Finder chart of 1036 Ganymed in Aquila on April,24 2024
Map showing Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in Aquila on April, 24 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed is 18h 51m 28s and the Declination is +01° 50’ 38” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed is 12.39 (JPL).

18h 51m 28s
+01° 50’ 38”
Aquila
12.39

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 87.9°
Max altitude: 40.4°
Azimuth: 271.9°
  • 1036 Ganymed is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 40° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 1036 Ganymed 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 1036 Ganymed Position and Finder Charts

Finder chart of 1036 Ganymed
Map showing Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in Aquila on April, 24 2024
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 1036 Ganymed is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

1036 Ganymed
RA: 18h 51m 28s
Dec: +01° 50’ 38”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 1036 Ganymed
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Asteroid 1036 Ganymed?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed from Earth is currently 204,685,848 kilometers, equivalent to 1.368240 Astronomical Units. Light takes 11 minutes and 22.7585 seconds to travel from Asteroid 1036 Ganymed and arrive to us.

204,685,848
1.368240
11 minutes and 22.7585 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed 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 1036 Ganymed 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 1036 Ganymed from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed to Earth

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed to Earth happens on Thu Oct 13 2011 at a distance of 0.359093 Astronomical Units, or 53,719,577 kilometers:

Thu Oct 13 2011
53,719,577
0.359093

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

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed, 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 1036 Ganymed as a function of time

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.53301637
Orbit inclination i 26.68554039°
Perihelion distance q 1.24496312 AU
186,243,832 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.08697156 AU
611,402,244 km
Semi-major axis a 2.66596734 AU
398,823,038 km
Orbital period period 4.3530 years
1,589.9397 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Sep-16 00:44:16
2,460,569.5308 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 132.46789661877°
Longitude of the ascending node node 215.49887996843°
Mean anomaly M 231.1579652362°
Mean motion n 0.22642368°/day

Visualization of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed 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 1036 Ganymed
View Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed. Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Physical Parameter Value Relative to Earth
Diameter 31.66 km 0.0025
Sideral Rotation 10.2970 hours 0.4302
Absolute Magnitude 9.45
Geometric Albedo 0.2926

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Apr 17 18h 42m 21s -00° 57’ 11” 12.60 Aquila
2024 Apr 18 18h 43m 40s -00° 35’ 03” 12.58 Aquila
2024 Apr 19 18h 44m 57s -00° 12’ 33” 12.55 Aquila
2024 Apr 20 18h 46m 14s +00° 10’ 17” 12.52 Aquila
2024 Apr 21 18h 47m 29s +00° 33’ 29” 12.49 Aquila
2024 Apr 22 18h 48m 43s +00° 57’ 02” 12.46 Aquila
2024 Apr 23 18h 49m 59s +01° 20’ 58” 12.43 Aquila
2024 Apr 24 18h 51m 11s +01° 45’ 15” 12.40 Aquila
2024 Apr 25 18h 52m 24s +02° 09’ 56” 12.37 Serpens
2024 Apr 26 18h 53m 36s +02° 34’ 57” 12.34 Serpens
2024 Apr 27 18h 54m 47s +03° 00’ 20” 12.31 Serpens
2024 Apr 28 18h 55m 59s +03° 26’ 07” 12.28 Serpens
2024 Apr 29 18h 57m 07s +03° 52’ 14” 12.25 Serpens
2024 Apr 30 18h 58m 17s +04° 18’ 46” 12.22 Aquila