Compute the position of SpaceX Roadster (Starman) for any date and time between 8 February 2018
and 31 December 2089
and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.
SpaceX Roadster is not a natural celestial object, but rather a man-made object launched by SpaceX in February 2018 as part of the Falcon Heavy test flight. It is a red sports car owned by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and was launched as a demonstration of the Falcon Heavy's capabilities. The Roadster is not in a stable orbit around the Sun, but is instead on a heliocentric orbit that will take it to the asteroid belt and then back to the inner Solar System in the future. The Roadster also carries a mannequin named Starman, dressed in a spacesuit, in the driver's seat. The name "Roadster" refers to the type of car that is used as the payload for the Falcon Heavy, while "SpaceX" is the name of the private space exploration company founded by Elon Musk in 2002.
SpaceX Roadster (Starman) is in the constellation of
Aquarius,
at a distance of 386,798,559.0 kilometers from Earth.
The current Right Ascension is
22h 15m 41s
and the Declination is -10° 32’ 04”
(apparent coordinates).
The magnitude of SpaceX Roadster (Starman) is 28.86 (data provided by JPL Horizons).
Sky map showing SpaceX Roadster (Starman) in Aquarius on February, 10 2025.
Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart
High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where SpaceX Roadster (Starman) is right now.
Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Deep sky finder chart for SpaceX Roadster (Starman).
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins.
View in deep sky object tracker
Also check out Where is SpaceX Roadster (Starman)?,
a page that provides all the information needed to find SpaceX Roadster (Starman) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
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 SpaceX Roadster (Starman) from Earth is currently 386,798,559.0 kilometers,
equivalent to 2.5855886664Astronomical Units.
Light takes
21m 30.221s to travel from SpaceX Roadster (Starman) and arrive to us.
386,798,559.0
2.5855886664
21m 30.221s
The following chart shows the distance of SpaceX Roadster (Starman) 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 SpaceX Roadster (Starman) 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 SpaceX Roadster from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the
Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach
Between 8 February 2018 and 31 December 2089,
the closest approach of
SpaceX Roadster (Starman) to Earth happens on
Thu Feb 8 2018 at a distance of
0.002219 Astronomical Units, or
331,948 kilometers:
Thu Feb 8 2018
331,948
0.002219
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 SpaceX Roadster (Starman),
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 SpaceX Roadster (Starman) as a function of time
Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of SpaceX Roadster (Starman)
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of SpaceX Roadster (Starman) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval.
Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
Compute the position of SpaceX Roadster (Starman) for any date and time between 8 February 2018
and 31 December 2089
and display the results on an interactive star map.
Interactive orbit visualization. 3d
visualization showing the orbit of SpaceX Roadster (Starman) with respect to the major Solar System objects.
15 days ephemerides. Table
showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of SpaceX Roadster (Starman) for the past and next 7 days.
Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate SpaceX Roadster (Starman) in the sky from your location.
Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate SpaceX Roadster (Starman) with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.