Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid

Dike

Add to an observing list or journal →

99 Dike (A868 KA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.12 AU
True anomaly
155.51°
Distance from Earth
2.129 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Dike — 3.12 AU from the Sun Dike
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Dike is 2.129 AU from Earth today (17.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 10m 54s
Declination
+09° 51′ 04″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
2.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
175.03° — 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
2.663 AU
Eccentricity
0.1978
Inclination
13.86°
Orbital period
4.35 years
Perihelion
2.136 AU
Aphelion
3.19 AU
Longitude of ascending node
41.4°
Argument of periapsis
195.39°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 439.2 LD
1.1285 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.316

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
5,603
Data arc
110.9 years
First observed
20 January 1915
Last observed
18 December 2025
Residual RMS
0.3 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
34 km
Rotation period
18.13 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.065
Absolute magnitude (H)
9.46
Colour index (B–V)
0.7
Spectral type (SMASS)
Xk
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.32

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Borrelly, A.
Discovery date
28 May 1868
Discovery site
Marseilles

Also known as 99 · A868 KA · 1935 UC · 1935 YL · 1939 UT · 1948 UE · 1948 WC · 1961 XJ

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2035-08-21 02:22:00 Juptr 1.8207 AU 708.6 LD 3.6 km/s
2083-09-22 12:02:00 Juptr 1.8657 AU 726.1 LD 3.4 km/s
2166-01-13 12:19:00 Juptr 1.8391 AU 715.7 LD 3.7 km/s

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

Sources