Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 4:50  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 21:02 south
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 6 Hebe

6 Hebe is a main-belt asteroid located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered on 1 July 1847 by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Hencke and is named after the Greek goddess of youth. Hebe has a diameter of approximately 186 kilometers and is irregularly shaped, with a rotation period of about 7.3 hours. Hebe orbits the Sun once every 3.78 Earth years. Hebe is also the parent body of the Hebe family of asteroids, which are believed to have originated from the fragmentation of a larger parent body.

Asteroid 6 Hebe is currently in the constellation of Cancer.

The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 6 Hebe is 09h 05m 15s and the Declination is +20° 06’ 13” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 6 Hebe is 11.03 (JPL).

09h 05m 15s
+20° 06’ 13”
Cancer
11.03

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 6 Hebe from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 69.9°
Max altitude: 58.6°
Azimuth: 290.1°
  • 6 Hebe is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Right now it is placed in the East-North-East direction at an altitude of 15° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 6 Hebe 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.

Available Resources

Asteroid 6 Hebe Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Asteroid 6 Hebe finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Finder chart of 6 Hebe in Cancer on May,30 2023
Map showing Asteroid 6 Hebe in Cancer on May, 30 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Finder chart of 6 Hebe
Map showing Asteroid 6 Hebe in Cancer on May, 30 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 6 Hebe is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

6 Hebe
RA: 09h 05m 15s
Dec: +20° 06’ 13”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 6 Hebe
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Asteroid 6 Hebe?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 6 Hebe in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Asteroid 6 Hebe Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 6 Hebe from Earth is currently 447,627,239 kilometers, equivalent to 2.992203 Astronomical Units. Light takes 24 minutes and 53.1237 seconds to travel from Asteroid 6 Hebe and arrive to us.

447,627,239
2.992203
24 minutes and 53.1237 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 6 Hebe 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 6 Hebe 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 6 Hebe from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Asteroid 6 Hebe to Earth

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 6 Hebe to Earth happens on Wed Sep 21 2044 at a distance of 0.974147 Astronomical Units, or 145,730,330 kilometers:

Wed Sep 21 2044
145,730,330
0.974147

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

Asteroid 6 Hebe Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 6 Hebe, 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 6 Hebe as a function of time

Asteroid 6 Hebe Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 6 Hebe at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.20275238
Orbit inclination i 14.73756424°
Perihelion distance q 1.93351725 AU
289,250,063 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.91696383 AU
436,371,578 km
Semi-major axis a 2.42524054 AU
362,810,821 km
Orbital period period 3.7769 years
1,379.5284 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Mar-09 23:16:55
2,459,648.4701 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Dec-18 11:57
2,461,027.9985 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 239.54004369621°
Longitude of the ascending node node 138.63826477344°
Mean anomaly M 91.865282977911°
Mean motion n 0.26095874°/day

Visualization of Asteroid 6 Hebe Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 6 Hebe with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 6 Hebe 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!

Asteroid 6 Hebe Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 6 Hebe. Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Physical Parameter Value Relative to Earth
Diameter 185.18 km 0.0145
Sideral Rotation 7.2745 hours 0.3039
Absolute Magnitude 5.71
Geometric Albedo 0.2679

Asteroid 6 Hebe 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 6 Hebe computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 6 Hebe in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 May 23 08h 55m 33s +20° 30’ 44” 10.97 Cancer
2023 May 24 08h 56m 49s +20° 27’ 42” 10.98 Cancer
2023 May 25 08h 58m 08s +20° 24’ 37” 10.98 Cancer
2023 May 26 08h 59m 26s +20° 21’ 24” 10.99 Cancer
2023 May 27 09h 00m 43s +20° 18’ 07” 11.00 Cancer
2023 May 28 09h 02m 02s +20° 14’ 45” 11.01 Cancer
2023 May 29 09h 03m 20s +20° 11’ 20” 11.02 Cancer
2023 May 30 09h 04m 41s +20° 07’ 49” 11.03 Cancer
2023 May 31 09h 05m 59s +20° 04’ 13” 11.03 Cancer
2023 Jun 01 09h 07m 21s +20° 00’ 33” 11.04 Cancer
2023 Jun 02 09h 08m 40s +19° 56’ 48” 11.05 Cancer
2023 Jun 03 09h 10m 01s +19° 52’ 58” 11.06 Cancer
2023 Jun 04 09h 11m 22s +19° 49’ 04” 11.06 Cancer
2023 Jun 05 09h 12m 43s +19° 45’ 05” 11.07 Cancer