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Asteroid

Hekate

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100 Hekate (A868 NA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.634 AU
True anomaly
33.43°
Distance from Earth
2.048 AU
As of
21 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Hekate — 2.634 AU from the Sun Hekate
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hekate is 2.048 AU from Earth today (17.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 52m 04s
Declination
-18° 12′ 46″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
2.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
115.4° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
3.091 AU
Eccentricity
0.168
Inclination
6.43°
Orbital period
5.43 years
Perihelion
2.571 AU
Aphelion
3.61 AU
Longitude of ascending node
127.16°
Argument of periapsis
183.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 605.7 LD
1.5563 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.194

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
9,118
Data arc
155.2 years
First observed
15 January 1871
Last observed
14 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.29 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
43 km
Rotation period
27.07 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.205
Absolute magnitude (H)
7.73
Colour index (B–V)
0.84
Spectral type (SMASS)
S
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.36

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Watson, J. C.
Discovery date
11 July 1868
Discovery site
Ann Arbor

Also known as 100 · A868 NA · 1955 QA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2051-05-22 19:56:00 Juptr 1.8893 AU 735.2 LD 2.4 km/s
2061-04-18 04:13:00 Juptr 1.6924 AU 658.6 LD 2 km/s
2121-10-15 15:23:00 Juptr 1.7313 AU 673.8 LD 2.1 km/s
2131-09-03 12:23:00 Juptr 1.8153 AU 706.5 LD 2.5 km/s
2182-04-09 17:25:00 Juptr 1.9657 AU 765.0 LD 2.5 km/s
2192-03-10 22:43:00 Juptr 1.6873 AU 656.6 LD 2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources