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Asteroid

Leda

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38 Leda (A856 AA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.012 AU
True anomaly
223.15°
Distance from Earth
2.494 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 Leda — 3.012 AU from the Sun Leda
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leda is 2.494 AU from Earth today (20.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 46m 12s
Declination
-13° 14′ 52″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
2.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
111.29° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
2.743 AU
Eccentricity
0.1509
Inclination
6.95°
Orbital period
4.54 years
Perihelion
2.329 AU
Aphelion
3.156 AU
Longitude of ascending node
295.49°
Argument of periapsis
169.83°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 523.7 LD
1.3456 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.322

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,627
Data arc
170.2 years
First observed
29 January 1856
Last observed
14 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
46 km
Rotation period
12.84 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.055
Absolute magnitude (H)
8.51
Colour index (B–V)
0.73
Spectral type (SMASS)
Cgh
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.42

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Chacornac, J.
Discovery date
12 January 1856
Discovery site
Paris

Also known as 38 · A856 AA · 1949 QO2 · A904 SF

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-06-04 10:01:00 Juptr 1.9926 AU 775.4 LD 3.1 km/s
2140-01-18 22:12:00 Juptr 1.9888 AU 774.0 LD 3 km/s
2198-10-20 03:10:00 Juptr 1.9752 AU 768.7 LD 3 km/s

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

Sources