Asteroid 87 Sylvia

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.

Asteroid 87 Sylvia is currently in the constellation of Microscopium. The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 87 Sylvia is 20h 28m 05s and the Declination is -27° 48’ 28” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 87 Sylvia is 12.29 (JPL).

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

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Asteroid 87 Sylvia?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 87 Sylvia from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 87 Sylvia rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 87 Sylvia?)
• 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.

Higher 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.

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.

Asteroid 87 Sylvia Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 87 Sylvia from Earth is currently 370,788,300 kilometers, equivalent to 2.478567 Astronomical Units. Light takes 20 minutes and 36.8166 seconds to travel from Asteroid 87 Sylvia and arrive to us.

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.

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 of Asteroid 87 Sylvia to Earth

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:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Asteroid 87 Sylvia Brightness and 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.

Visualization of Asteroid 87 Sylvia Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 87 Sylvia with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 87 Sylvia 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!

Asteroid 87 Sylvia 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 87 Sylvia in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 May 29	20h 28m 04s	-27° 13’ 49”	12.42	Capricornus
2023 May 30	20h 28m 08s	-27° 17’ 52”	12.40	Capricornus
2023 May 31	20h 28m 11s	-27° 22’ 00”	12.39	Capricornus
2023 Jun 01	20h 28m 14s	-27° 26’ 13”	12.37	Capricornus
2023 Jun 02	20h 28m 14s	-27° 30’ 32”	12.35	Capricornus
2023 Jun 03	20h 28m 14s	-27° 34’ 54”	12.34	Capricornus
2023 Jun 04	20h 28m 11s	-27° 39’ 23”	12.32	Microscopium
2023 Jun 05	20h 28m 09s	-27° 43’ 54”	12.30	Microscopium
2023 Jun 06	20h 28m 05s	-27° 48’ 32”	12.29	Microscopium
2023 Jun 07	20h 27m 59s	-27° 53’ 12”	12.27	Microscopium
2023 Jun 08	20h 27m 51s	-27° 57’ 57”	12.25	Microscopium
2023 Jun 09	20h 27m 42s	-28° 02’ 47”	12.23	Microscopium
2023 Jun 10	20h 27m 33s	-28° 07’ 40”	12.22	Sagittarius
2023 Jun 11	20h 27m 21s	-28° 12’ 37”	12.20	Sagittarius