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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 1036 Ganymed

Below the horizon.  Rise: 12:01 | Tran: 17:46 | Set: 23:32
Alt: -9.52°   Az: 277.73°   Direction: 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 in the constellation of Eridanus, at a distance of 271,816,953.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 17m 23s and the Declination is -02° 40’ 40” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed is 13.05 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in Eridanus on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in Eridanus on February, 12 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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: 03h 16m 07s
Dec: -02° 46’ 09”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 1036 Ganymed. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

03h 17m 23s
-02° 40’ 40”
06h 47m 46s
10h 05m 10s

J2000

03h 16m 07s
-02° 46’ 09”

Additional Information

Eridanus
13.05

Rise and Set Times

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

Azimuth: 92.6°
Max altitude: 35.9°
Azimuth: 267.4°
  • 1036 Ganymed is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 1036 Ganymed is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 6 inches (150mm) 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed from Earth is currently 271,816,953.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.8169841036 Astronomical Units. Light takes 15m 6.684s to travel from Asteroid 1036 Ganymed and arrive to us.

271,816,953.0
1.8169841036
15m 6.684s

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

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.

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

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
Next perihelion transit 2029-Jan-22 23:17
2,462,159.4705 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

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 1036 Ganymed
View Asteroid 1036 Ganymed in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 05 03h 05m 01s -03° 30’ 23” 12.88 Eridanus
2025 Feb 06 03h 06m 47s -03° 23’ 20” 12.90 Eridanus
2025 Feb 07 03h 08m 32s -03° 16’ 16” 12.93 Eridanus
2025 Feb 08 03h 10m 18s -03° 09’ 12” 12.95 Eridanus
2025 Feb 09 03h 12m 04s -03° 02’ 07” 12.98 Eridanus
2025 Feb 10 03h 13m 49s -02° 55’ 00” 13.00 Eridanus
2025 Feb 11 03h 15m 34s -02° 47’ 55” 13.02 Eridanus
2025 Feb 12 03h 17m 20s -02° 40’ 50” 13.05 Eridanus
2025 Feb 13 03h 19m 05s -02° 33’ 45” 13.07 Eridanus
2025 Feb 14 03h 20m 51s -02° 26’ 41” 13.09 Eridanus
2025 Feb 15 03h 22m 36s -02° 19’ 37” 13.12 Eridanus
2025 Feb 16 03h 24m 22s -02° 12’ 34” 13.14 Eridanus
2025 Feb 17 03h 26m 08s -02° 05’ 32” 13.16 Eridanus
2025 Feb 18 03h 27m 53s -01° 58’ 31” 13.19 Eridanus

Additional Resources