Asteroid 17 Thetis

Asteroid 17 Thetis is a large main-belt asteroid that was discovered on April 17, 1852, by the German astronomer Robert Luther at Bilk Observatory in Düsseldorf. It is named after Thetis, a sea goddess in Greek mythology who is the mother of Achilles. Thetis has an estimated diameter of about 90 kilometers and orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 2.4 astronomical units (AU), with an orbital period of about 3.6 years. Its rotation period is estimated to be about 6.4 hours. Little is known about the surface features or composition of Thetis, but its relatively low density suggests that it may be a C-type asteroid, composed of carbonaceous materials.

Asteroid 17 Thetis is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius.

The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 17 Thetis is 17h 50m 42s and the Declination is -21° 27’ 11” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 17 Thetis is 12.47 (JPL).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 17 Thetis 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 17 Thetis?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 17 Thetis from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 17 Thetis rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 17 Thetis?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Asteroid 17 Thetis orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 17 Thetis with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• Physical data. Detailed information about physical properties of Asteroid 17 Thetis, such as mass and geometric properties.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 17 Thetis for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 17 Thetis in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 17 Thetis with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 17 Thetis is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Asteroid 17 Thetis?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 17 Thetis in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Asteroid 17 Thetis Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 17 Thetis from Earth is currently 460,194,311 kilometers, equivalent to 3.076209 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25 minutes and 35.0430 seconds to travel from Asteroid 17 Thetis and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 17 Thetis 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 17 Thetis from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Asteroid 17 Thetis to Earth

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 17 Thetis to Earth happens on Wed Jun 15 1938 at a distance of 1.120642 Astronomical Units, or 167,645,665 kilometers:

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

Asteroid 17 Thetis Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 17 Thetis, 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 17 Thetis Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 17 Thetis with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 17 Thetis 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 17 Thetis 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 17 Thetis computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 17 Thetis in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Nov 26	17h 32m 15s	-21° 08’ 31”	12.52	Ophiucus
2023 Nov 27	17h 34m 33s	-21° 11’ 20”	12.51	Ophiucus
2023 Nov 28	17h 36m 52s	-21° 13’ 59”	12.51	Ophiucus
2023 Nov 29	17h 39m 11s	-21° 16’ 32”	12.50	Ophiucus
2023 Nov 30	17h 41m 30s	-21° 18’ 56”	12.49	Ophiucus
2023 Dec 01	17h 43m 50s	-21° 21’ 14”	12.49	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 02	17h 46m 09s	-21° 23’ 21”	12.48	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 03	17h 48m 29s	-21° 25’ 23”	12.48	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 04	17h 50m 48s	-21° 27’ 15”	12.47	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 05	17h 53m 08s	-21° 28’ 59”	12.46	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 06	17h 55m 27s	-21° 30’ 37”	12.46	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 07	17h 57m 47s	-21° 32’ 04”	12.45	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 08	18h 00m 09s	-21° 33’ 24”	12.44	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 09	18h 02m 29s	-21° 34’ 37”	12.43	Sagittarius