Compute the position of Asteroid 87 Sylvia for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.
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).
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.
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Finder Charts
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.
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 2.3705355587Astronomical 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
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.
Compute the position of Asteroid 87 Sylvia for any date and time between 1 January 1900
and 31 December 2099
and display the results on an interactive star map.
Orbital elements. Detailed information
about Asteroid 87 Sylvia orbital parameters.
Interactive orbit visualization. 3d
visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 87 Sylvia with respect to the major Solar System objects.
15 days ephemerides. Table
showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 87 Sylvia for the past and next 7 days.
Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 87 Sylvia in the sky from your location.
Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 87 Sylvia with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.