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Asteroid

Polyhymnia

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33 Polyhymnia (A854 UB)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.827 AU
True anomaly
176.15°
Distance from Earth
4.677 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 Polyhymnia — 3.827 AU from the Sun Polyhymnia
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Polyhymnia is 4.677 AU from Earth today (38.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 25m 24s
Declination
+04° 25′ 39″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
4.67 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.57° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
2.871 AU
Eccentricity
0.3345
Inclination
1.85°
Orbital period
4.87 years
Perihelion
1.911 AU
Aphelion
3.832 AU
Longitude of ascending node
8.13°
Argument of periapsis
338.81°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 351.5 LD
0.9031 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.212

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,146
Data arc
170.2 years
First observed
25 January 1856
Last observed
8 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
26 km
Rotation period
18.61 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.24
Absolute magnitude (H)
8.46
Colour index (B–V)
0.85
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.44

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Chacornac, J.
Discovery date
28 October 1854
Discovery site
Paris

Also known as 33 · A854 UB · 1938 FE · 1953 AK · 1957 YL · 1963 DG · 1976 YT7 · A887 HA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2050-07-14 20:17:00 Juptr 1.779 AU 692.3 LD 0.7 km/s
2075-04-21 08:45:00 Juptr 1.5756 AU 613.2 LD 0.5 km/s
2100-01-20 05:42:00 Juptr 1.7743 AU 690.5 LD 0.5 km/s
2157-05-22 18:03:00 Juptr 1.7845 AU 694.5 LD 0.7 km/s
2182-02-26 10:11:00 Juptr 1.5771 AU 613.8 LD 0.5 km/s

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

Sources