Asteroid 16 Psyche
Asteroid 16 Psyche Position
Asteroid 16 Psyche is currently in the constellation of Capricornus. The current Right Ascension is 21h 20m 23s and the Declination is -16° 03’ 51”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Asteroid 16 Psyche is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see fuillscreen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Hihgher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Asteroid 16 Psyche is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Asteroid 16 Psyche?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 16 Psyche in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Asteroid 16 Psyche Distance
The distance of Asteroid 16 Psyche from Earth is currently 390,808,364 kilometers, equivalent to 2.612393 Astronomical Units. Light takes 21 minutes and 43.5964 seconds to travel from Asteroid 16 Psyche and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 16 Psyche 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.
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 16 Psyche from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Asteroid 16 Psyche to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Asteroid 16 Psyche to Earth happens on Mon Aug 17 2099 at a distance of 1.66470724 Astronomical Units, or 249,036,660 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Asteroid 16 Psyche brightness
The current visual magnitude of Asteroid 16 Psyche is 11.06.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 16 Psyche, 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.
Asteroid 16 Psyche rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Asteroid 16 Psyche rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Asteroid 16 Psyche touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Asteroid 16 Psyche Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 16 Psyche at epoch 26 April 2019 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458600.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.13356841 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 3.09600521° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.53328452 AU 378,973,971 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
3.31434284 AU 495,818,632 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.92381368 AU 437,396,302 km |
| Orbital period | period |
5.0000 years 1,826.0933 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2020-Apr-24 12:21:23 2,458,964.0149 JD |
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 228.82307135649° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 150.04566639829° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 288.3358928922° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.19714217°/day |
Visualization of Asteroid 16 Psyche Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 16 Psyche with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 16 Psyche 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!
View Asteroid 16 Psyche in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Asteroid 16 Psyche Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 16 Psyche. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 253.16 km | 0.0199 |
| Sideral Rotation | 4.1960 hours | 0.1753 |
| Absolute Magnitude | 5.9 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.1203 |
Asteroid 16 Psyche 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 16 Psyche computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 16 Psyche in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Nov 14 | 21h 11m 21s | -16° 39’ 20” | 10.99 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 15 | 21h 12m 26s | -16° 35’ 08” | 11.00 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 16 | 21h 13m 35s | -16° 30’ 50” | 11.01 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 17 | 21h 14m 43s | -16° 26’ 26” | 11.02 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 18 | 21h 15m 51s | -16° 21’ 56” | 11.02 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 19 | 21h 17m 00s | -16° 17’ 21” | 11.03 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 20 | 21h 18m 11s | -16° 12’ 41” | 11.04 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 21 | 21h 19m 23s | -16° 07’ 54” | 11.05 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 22 | 21h 20m 35s | -16° 03’ 02” | 11.06 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 23 | 21h 21m 47s | -15° 58’ 05” | 11.06 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 24 | 21h 23m 00s | -15° 53’ 03” | 11.07 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 25 | 21h 24m 15s | -15° 47’ 53” | 11.08 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 26 | 21h 25m 30s | -15° 42’ 41” | 11.08 | Capricornus |
| 2019 Nov 27 | 21h 26m 45s | -15° 37’ 21” | 11.09 | Capricornus |