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Asteroid

Themis

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24 Themis (A853 GA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.324 AU
True anomaly
125.28°
Distance from Earth
3.747 AU
As of
11 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 — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Themis — 3.324 AU from the Sun Themis
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Themis is 3.747 AU from Earth today (31.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 00m 35s
Declination
-23° 16′ 16″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
3.76 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.25° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.144 AU
Eccentricity
0.1154
Inclination
0.74°
Orbital period
5.57 years
Perihelion
2.781 AU
Aphelion
3.507 AU
Longitude of ascending node
36.39°
Argument of periapsis
109.22°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 698.0 LD
1.7936 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.199

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,577
Data arc
172.9 years
First observed
27 April 1853
Last observed
4 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
99 km
Rotation period
8.37 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.067
Absolute magnitude (H)
7.21
Colour index (B–V)
0.68
Spectral type (SMASS)
B
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.34

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
de Gasparis, A.
Discovery date
5 April 1853
Discovery site
Naples

Also known as 24 · A853 GA · 1947 BA · 1955 OH

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-05-05 04:31:00 Juptr 1.5371 AU 598.2 LD 1.5 km/s
2043-08-20 08:18:00 Juptr 1.9641 AU 764.4 LD 2.9 km/s
2106-08-07 06:17:00 Juptr 1.6944 AU 659.4 LD 2.3 km/s
2116-11-11 00:48:00 Juptr 1.4933 AU 581.1 LD 1.4 km/s
2127-02-21 08:46:00 Juptr 1.8381 AU 715.3 LD 2.5 km/s
2190-02-11 05:13:00 Juptr 1.803 AU 701.7 LD 2.8 km/s
2200-05-18 14:58:00 Juptr 1.4788 AU 575.5 LD 1.4 km/s

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

Sources