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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:44 
Transit: 13:00 
Sunset: 21:16
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 87 Sylvia

Above the horizon.  Rise: 4:05 | Tran: 11:48 | Set: 19:31
Alt: 43.49°   Az: 117.25°   Direction: East-South-East

Asteroid 87 Sylvia is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 652,513,707.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 16m 09s and the Declination is +19° 21’ 56” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 87 Sylvia is 13.26.

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 87 Sylvia in Taurus on June, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 87 Sylvia in Taurus on June, 13 2025. Field of view: 15x9 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: 04h 14m 40s
Dec: +19° 18’ 12”
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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 16m 09s
+19° 21’ 56”
21h 07m 29s
01h 23m 38s

J2000

04h 14m 40s
+19° 18’ 12”

Additional Information

Taurus
13.26

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: 70.7°
Max altitude: 57.9°
Azimuth: 289.4°
  • 87 Sylvia is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East-South-East direction at an altitude of 43.49° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 87 Sylvia 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 87 Sylvia from Earth is currently 652,513,707.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.3617847229 Astronomical Units. Light takes 36m 16.551s to travel from Asteroid 87 Sylvia and arrive to us.

652,513,707.0
4.3617847229
36m 16.551s

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
2h1>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
2025 Jun 06 04h 06m 03s +18° 46’ 05” 13.20 Taurus
2025 Jun 07 04h 07m 25s +18° 51’ 08” 13.20 Taurus
2025 Jun 08 04h 08m 48s +18° 56’ 08” 13.21 Taurus
2025 Jun 09 04h 10m 11s +19° 01’ 05” 13.22 Taurus
2025 Jun 10 04h 11m 33s +19° 05’ 58” 13.23 Taurus
2025 Jun 11 04h 12m 56s +19° 10’ 49” 13.24 Taurus
2025 Jun 12 04h 14m 18s +19° 15’ 38” 13.25 Taurus
2025 Jun 13 04h 15m 41s +19° 20’ 23” 13.26 Taurus
2025 Jun 14 04h 17m 04s +19° 25’ 04” 13.27 Taurus
2025 Jun 15 04h 18m 26s +19° 29’ 44” 13.27 Taurus
2025 Jun 16 04h 19m 48s +19° 34’ 20” 13.28 Taurus
2025 Jun 17 04h 21m 10s +19° 38’ 53” 13.29 Taurus
2025 Jun 18 04h 22m 33s +19° 43’ 23” 13.30 Taurus
2025 Jun 19 04h 23m 55s +19° 47’ 50” 13.30 Taurus

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