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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:12 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:41
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 87 Sylvia

Above the horizon.  Rise: 5:42 | Tran: 13:07 | Set: 20:33
Alt: 20.78°   Az: 89.32°   Direction: East

Asteroid 87 Sylvia is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 656,079,109.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 33m 21s and the Declination is +16° 32’ 01” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 87 Sylvia is 12.99 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 87 Sylvia in Taurus on May, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 87 Sylvia in Taurus on May, 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: 03h 31m 55s
Dec: +16° 26’ 56”
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

03h 33m 21s
+16° 32’ 01”
18h 51m 09s
22h 24m 31s

J2000

03h 31m 55s
+16° 26’ 56”

Additional Information

Taurus
12.99

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: 73.5°
Max altitude: 55.1°
Azimuth: 286.6°
  • 87 Sylvia is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the East direction at an altitude of 20.78° 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 656,079,109.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.3856179632 Astronomical Units. Light takes 36m 28.444s to travel from Asteroid 87 Sylvia and arrive to us.

656,079,109.0
4.3856179632
36m 28.444s

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
2025 May 06 03h 23m 24s +15° 45’ 30” 13.07 Aries
2025 May 07 03h 24m 45s +15° 52’ 02” 13.06 Aries
2025 May 08 03h 26m 07s +15° 58’ 31” 13.05 Taurus
2025 May 09 03h 27m 29s +16° 04’ 56” 13.04 Taurus
2025 May 10 03h 28m 50s +16° 11’ 20” 13.03 Taurus
2025 May 11 03h 30m 12s +16° 17’ 39” 13.02 Taurus
2025 May 12 03h 31m 34s +16° 23’ 58” 13.00 Taurus
2025 May 13 03h 32m 57s +16° 30’ 13” 12.99 Taurus
2025 May 14 03h 34m 20s +16° 36’ 25” 12.98 Taurus
2025 May 15 03h 35m 42s +16° 42’ 35” 12.97 Taurus
2025 May 16 03h 37m 04s +16° 48’ 41” 12.97 Taurus
2025 May 17 03h 38m 27s +16° 54’ 46” 12.97 Taurus
2025 May 18 03h 39m 49s +17° 00’ 47” 12.97 Taurus
2025 May 19 03h 41m 11s +17° 06’ 46” 12.98 Taurus

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