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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 6:25 
Transit: 12:57 
Sunset: 19:28
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 87 Sylvia

Below the horizon.  Rise: 21:50 | Tran: 3:42 | Set: 9:30
Alt: -37.64°   Az: 26.10°   Direction: North-North-East

Asteroid 87 Sylvia is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 354,627,072.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 53m 07s and the Declination is -02° 00’ 24” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 87 Sylvia is 12.10 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder chart of 87 Sylvia in Cetus on September,08 2024
Map showing Asteroid 87 Sylvia in Cetus on September, 08 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map

Asteroid 87 Sylvia was discovered on May 16, 1866, by English astronomer Norman Robert Pogson. It is a relatively large main-belt asteroid, with a diameter of approximately 286 kilometers. The asteroid is named after Rhea Sylvia, the mythical mother of the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. Sylvia has an orbital period of 5.5 years and an average distance from the Sun of approximately 3 astronomical units. It is a member of the Cybele group, which is a large group of asteroids that share similar orbital characteristics. Sylvia is notable for having a satellite system discovered in 2001 by Franck Marchis and his team and composed by two orbiting satellites named (87) Sylvia I Romulus and (87) Sylvia II Remus.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 53m 07s
-02° 00’ 24”
13h 21m 36s
15h 14m 43s

J2000

01h 51m 52s
-02° 07’ 40”

Additional Information

Cetus
12.10

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 87 Sylvia from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 92.0°
Max altitude: 36.5°
Azimuth: 268.0°
  • 87 Sylvia is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 87 Sylvia 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.

Finder Charts

Finder chart of 87 Sylvia
Sky map showing Asteroid 87 Sylvia in Cetus on September, 08 2024. Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 87 Sylvia is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

87 Sylvia
RA: 01h 51m 52s
Dec: -02° 07’ 40”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 87 Sylvia. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 87 Sylvia?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 87 Sylvia in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 87 Sylvia from Earth is currently 354,627,072.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.3705355587 Astronomical Units. Light takes 19m 42.909s to travel from Asteroid 87 Sylvia and arrive to us.

354,627,072.0
2.3705355587
19m 42.909s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 87 Sylvia 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 87 Sylvia 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 87 Sylvia 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 87 Sylvia to Earth happens on Mon Aug 22 2095 at a distance of 2.153632 Astronomical Units, or 322,178,836 kilometers:

Mon Aug 22 2095
322,178,836
2.153632

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 87 Sylvia, 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 87 Sylvia as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 87 Sylvia at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.09396728
Orbit inclination i 10.87984080°
Perihelion distance q 3.15090993 AU
471,369,417 km
Aphelion distance Q 3.80448995 AU
569,143,597 km
Semi-major axis a 3.47769994 AU
520,256,507 km
Orbital period period 6.4855 years
2,368.8447 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Feb-25 00:18:51
2,460,365.5131 JD
Next perihelion transit 2030-Aug-20 20:35
2,462,734.3578 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 264.28815649744°
Longitude of the ascending node node 73.010384379893°
Mean anomaly M 304.52793116662°
Mean motion n 0.15197282°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 87 Sylvia
View Asteroid 87 Sylvia in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 87 Sylvia 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
2024 Sep 01 01h 54m 56s -01° 37’ 21” 12.22 Cetus
2024 Sep 02 01h 54m 46s -01° 40’ 09” 12.21 Cetus
2024 Sep 03 01h 54m 35s -01° 43’ 00” 12.19 Cetus
2024 Sep 04 01h 54m 22s -01° 45’ 56” 12.18 Cetus
2024 Sep 05 01h 54m 08s -01° 48’ 56” 12.16 Cetus
2024 Sep 06 01h 53m 53s -01° 51’ 59” 12.14 Cetus
2024 Sep 07 01h 53m 37s -01° 55’ 05” 12.13 Cetus
2024 Sep 08 01h 53m 19s -01° 58’ 15” 12.11 Cetus
2024 Sep 09 01h 53m 01s -02° 01’ 28” 12.10 Cetus
2024 Sep 10 01h 52m 41s -02° 04’ 44” 12.08 Cetus
2024 Sep 11 01h 52m 20s -02° 08’ 01” 12.06 Cetus
2024 Sep 12 01h 51m 58s -02° 11’ 22” 12.05 Cetus
2024 Sep 13 01h 51m 34s -02° 14’ 44” 12.03 Cetus
2024 Sep 14 01h 51m 10s -02° 18’ 09” 12.01 Cetus

Additional Resources