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.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of asteroid 12 Victoria in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Asteroid 12 Victoria
Asteroid 12 Victoria is in the constellation of Aries, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 12 Victoria in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of asteroid 12 Victoria against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 12 Victoria from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
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
The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 12 Victoria from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of 12 Victoria from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1900 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of asteroid 12 Victoria to Earth happened on Thursday 29 July 2021 at a distance of 0.825577 Astronomical Units, or 123,504,556 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of asteroid 12 Victoria, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of asteroid 12 Victoria at epoch February, 24 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 | July 24, 2021 2,459,420.2704 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | February 15, 2025 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
The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 12 Victoria relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of asteroid 12 Victoria. The source for this data is the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 09 2025 | 01h 59m 20s | +18° 55’ 31” | 11.57 | Aries |
| Jul 10 2025 | 02h 01m 00s | +19° 04’ 09” | 11.56 | Aries |
| Jul 11 2025 | 02h 02m 39s | +19° 12’ 39” | 11.56 | Aries |
| Jul 12 2025 | 02h 04m 17s | +19° 21’ 03” | 11.55 | Aries |
| Jul 13 2025 | 02h 05m 55s | +19° 29’ 19” | 11.55 | Aries |
| Jul 14 2025 | 02h 07m 33s | +19° 37’ 29” | 11.54 | Aries |
| Jul 15 2025 | 02h 09m 10s | +19° 45’ 31” | 11.54 | Aries |
| Jul 16 2025 | 02h 10m 45s | +19° 53’ 27” | 11.53 | Aries |
| Jul 17 2025 | 02h 12m 20s | +20° 01’ 15” | 11.52 | Aries |
| Jul 18 2025 | 02h 13m 54s | +20° 08’ 57” | 11.52 | Aries |
| Jul 19 2025 | 02h 15m 28s | +20° 16’ 31” | 11.51 | Aries |
| Jul 20 2025 | 02h 17m 00s | +20° 23’ 58” | 11.51 | Aries |
| Jul 21 2025 | 02h 18m 32s | +20° 31’ 18” | 11.50 | Aries |
| Jul 22 2025 | 02h 20m 04s | +20° 38’ 31” | 11.49 | Aries |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Asteroid 12 Victoria: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is asteroid 12 Victoria?: Key information on where to find asteroid 12 Victoria in the sky.
- Distance of asteroid 12 Victoria from Earth: Find out how far asteroid 12 Victoria is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is asteroid 12 Victoria?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of asteroid 12 Victoria from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of asteroid 12 Victoria's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of asteroid 12 Victoria's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days asteroid 12 Victoria's computed ephemeris.
- Orbital elements: Information about asteroid 12 Victoria orbital parameters.
- Orbit Visualization: 3D interactive visualization showing the orbit of asteroid 12 Victoria with respect to the major Solar System objects.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of asteroid 12 Victoria.