Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid

Bellona

Add to an observing list or journal →

28 Bellona (A854 EA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.094 AU
True anomaly
145.09°
Distance from Earth
3.49 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 Bellona — 3.094 AU from the Sun Bellona
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Bellona is 3.49 AU from Earth today (29.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 07m 02s
Declination
-16° 21′ 57″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
3.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.44° — 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
2.778 AU
Eccentricity
0.149
Inclination
9.42°
Orbital period
4.63 years
Perihelion
2.364 AU
Aphelion
3.192 AU
Longitude of ascending node
144.15°
Argument of periapsis
343.54°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 537.2 LD
1.3805 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.299

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
4,685
Data arc
169.5 years
First observed
29 September 1856
Last observed
3 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
60 km
Rotation period
15.71 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.176
Absolute magnitude (H)
7.21
Colour index (B–V)
0.85
Spectral type (SMASS)
S
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.47

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Luther, R.
Discovery date
1 March 1854
Discovery site
Dusseldorf

Also known as 28 · A854 EA · 1951 CC2

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2069-07-16 08:43:00 Juptr 1.8818 AU 732.4 LD 3 km/s
2092-03-25 18:37:00 Juptr 1.916 AU 745.7 LD 2.9 km/s
2153-02-12 17:02:00 Juptr 1.9742 AU 768.3 LD 3.2 km/s
2175-10-19 21:47:00 Juptr 1.8636 AU 725.3 LD 3 km/s

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

Sources