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Solar
Asteroid

Arethusa

95 Arethusa (A867 WA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.47 AU
True anomaly
205.72°
Distance from Earth
4.162 AU
As of
2 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 — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Arethusa — 3.47 AU from the Sun Arethusa
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Arethusa is 4.162 AU from Earth today (34.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 12m 55s
Declination
-18° 11′ 49″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
4.17 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.54° — 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's up after dark, 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
3.065 AU
Eccentricity
0.1524
Inclination
13.01°
Orbital period
5.36 years
Perihelion
2.597 AU
Aphelion
3.532 AU
Longitude of ascending node
242.94°
Argument of periapsis
152.75°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 627.3 LD
1.6118 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.176

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,079
Data arc
153.5 years
First observed
23 September 1872
Last observed
10 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
74 km
Rotation period
8.71 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.058
Absolute magnitude (H)
7.96
Colour index (B–V)
0.71
Spectral type (SMASS)
Ch
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.37

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Luther, R.
Discovery date
23 November 1867
Discovery site
Dusseldorf

Also known as 95 · A867 WA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2043-02-08 17:08:00 Juptr 1.9433 AU 756.3 LD 4.2 km/s
2102-02-15 14:01:00 Juptr 1.9126 AU 744.3 LD 4.1 km/s
2161-02-23 01:48:00 Juptr 1.9018 AU 740.1 LD 4.1 km/s

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

Sources