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Sunset: 17:14
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 12 Victoria

Above the horizon.  Rise: 6:15 | Tran: 11:11 | Set: 16:08
Alt: 23.13°   Az: 154.28°   Direction: South-South-East

Asteroid 12 Victoria is a relatively small asteroid with a diameter of approximately 145 kilometers. It was discovered on September 13, 1850, by English astronomer John Russell Hind and named after the Roman goddess of victory, Victoria. The asteroid orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, with a semi-major axis of approximately 2.47 astronomical units (AU) and an orbital period of about 4.09 years. It rotates relatively quickly, with a rotation period of about 5.28 hours. Victoria is also classified as an S-type asteroid, indicating that its surface is likely composed of silicate minerals and metallic elements.

Asteroid 12 Victoria is in the constellation of Aquarius, at a distance of 412,189,816.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 20h 54m 35s and the Declination is -12° 02’ 33” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 12 Victoria is 11.36 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 12 Victoria in Aquarius on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 12 Victoria in Aquarius on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 12 Victoria is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

12 Victoria
RA: 20h 53m 13s
Dec: -12° 08’ 19”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 12 Victoria. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 12 Victoria?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 12 Victoria in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

20h 54m 35s
-12° 02’ 33”
22h 23m 39s
19h 18m 15s

J2000

20h 53m 13s
-12° 08’ 19”

Additional Information

Aquarius
11.36

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 12 Victoria from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 102.1°
Max altitude: 26.5°
Azimuth: 258.0°
  • 12 Victoria is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 23.13° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 12 Victoria is visible with the help of a binocular with a 70-80mm aperture or a small telescope.
  • 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 12 Victoria from Earth is currently 412,189,816.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.7553187360 Astronomical Units. Light takes 22m 54.917s to travel from Asteroid 12 Victoria and arrive to us.

412,189,816.0
2.7553187360
22m 54.917s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 12 Victoria 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 12 Victoria 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 12 Victoria 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 12 Victoria to Earth happens on Thu Jul 29 2021 at a distance of 0.825577 Astronomical Units, or 123,504,556 kilometers:

Thu Jul 29 2021
123,504,556
0.825577

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 12 Victoria, 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 12 Victoria as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 12 Victoria at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.22052580
Orbit inclination i 8.37412439°
Perihelion distance q 1.81881574 AU
272,090,962 km
Aphelion distance Q 2.84796025 AU
426,048,791 km
Semi-major axis a 2.33338799 AU
349,069,876 km
Orbital period period 3.5644 years
1,301.9037 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2021-Jul-24 18:29:23
2,459,420.2704 JD
Next perihelion transit 2025-Feb-15 16:10
2,460,722.1741 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 69.610692042764°
Longitude of the ascending node node 235.36334388911°
Mean anomaly M 160.44401018028°
Mean motion n 0.27651815°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 12 Victoria
View Asteroid 12 Victoria in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Physical Data

The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Asteroid 12 Victoria. Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Physical Parameter Value Relative to Earth
Diameter 112.77 km 0.0089
Sideral Rotation 8.6599 hours 0.3618
Absolute Magnitude 7.24
Geometric Albedo 0.1765

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 12 Victoria 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 Feb 08 20h 35m 55s -13° 26’ 14” 11.32 Capricornus
2025 Feb 09 20h 38m 28s -13° 15’ 17” 11.33 Capricornus
2025 Feb 10 20h 41m 00s -13° 04’ 14” 11.33 Aquarius
2025 Feb 11 20h 43m 32s -12° 53’ 04” 11.34 Aquarius
2025 Feb 12 20h 46m 03s -12° 41’ 47” 11.34 Aquarius
2025 Feb 13 20h 48m 33s -12° 30’ 22” 11.35 Aquarius
2025 Feb 14 20h 51m 04s -12° 18’ 50” 11.36 Aquarius
2025 Feb 15 20h 53m 35s -12° 07’ 13” 11.36 Aquarius
2025 Feb 16 20h 56m 05s -11° 55’ 29” 11.37 Aquarius
2025 Feb 17 20h 58m 35s -11° 43’ 39” 11.37 Aquarius
2025 Feb 18 21h 01m 04s -11° 31’ 42” 11.38 Aquarius
2025 Feb 19 21h 03m 34s -11° 19’ 39” 11.38 Aquarius
2025 Feb 20 21h 06m 02s -11° 07’ 30” 11.39 Aquarius
2025 Feb 21 21h 08m 30s -10° 55’ 14” 11.39 Aquarius

Additional Resources