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Asteroid

Hestia

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46 Hestia (A857 QA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.127 AU
True anomaly
27.42°
Distance from Earth
1.143 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 Hestia — 2.127 AU from the Sun Hestia
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hestia is 1.143 AU from Earth today (9.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 00m 11s
Declination
+10° 18′ 02″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
1.14 AU
Elongation from the Sun
167.31° — near opposition — up most of the night

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
2.526 AU
Eccentricity
0.1718
Inclination
2.35°
Orbital period
4.01 years
Perihelion
2.092 AU
Aphelion
2.96 AU
Longitude of ascending node
181.05°
Argument of periapsis
177.05°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 422.9 LD
1.0866 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.432

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,903
Data arc
161.5 years
First observed
5 April 1864
Last observed
15 October 2025
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 March 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
66 km
Rotation period
21.04 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.046
Absolute magnitude (H)
8.52
Colour index (B–V)
0.69
Spectral type (SMASS)
Xc
Spectral type (Tholen)
P
Colour index (U–B)
0.23

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Pogson, N. R.
Discovery date
16 August 1857
Discovery site
Oxford

Also known as 46 · A857 QA · 1935 EY

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Sources