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Asteroid

Daphne

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41 Daphne (A856 KA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.021 AU
True anomaly
355.85°
Distance from Earth
2.963 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 Daphne — 2.021 AU from the Sun Daphne
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Daphne is 2.963 AU from Earth today (24.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 12m 31s
Declination
-05° 37′ 33″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.45° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
2.767 AU
Eccentricity
0.2702
Inclination
15.73°
Orbital period
4.6 years
Perihelion
2.019 AU
Aphelion
3.515 AU
Longitude of ascending node
177.6°
Argument of periapsis
47.02°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 407.3 LD
1.0465 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.232

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
8,160
Data arc
159.7 years
First observed
13 July 1866
Last observed
13 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.3 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
103 km
Rotation period
5.99 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.059
Absolute magnitude (H)
7.58
Colour index (B–V)
0.73
Spectral type (SMASS)
Ch
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.36

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Goldschmidt, H.
Discovery date
22 May 1856
Discovery site
Paris

Also known as 41 · A856 KA · 1949 TG

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2047-02-27 11:23:00 Juptr 1.5643 AU 608.8 LD 3.6 km/s
2107-04-09 03:19:00 Juptr 1.7817 AU 693.4 LD 2.9 km/s
2129-09-23 03:58:00 Juptr 1.6651 AU 648.0 LD 3.8 km/s
2189-10-14 14:45:00 Juptr 1.5996 AU 622.5 LD 3.3 km/s

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

Sources