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Asteroid

Virginia

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50 Virginia (A857 TA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.474 AU
True anomaly
93.07°
Distance from Earth
2.639 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 Virginia — 2.474 AU from the Sun Virginia
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Virginia is 2.639 AU from Earth today (21.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 43m 27s
Declination
+15° 36′ 51″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
2.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
70.04° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
2.651 AU
Eccentricity
0.2845
Inclination
2.84°
Orbital period
4.32 years
Perihelion
1.897 AU
Aphelion
3.405 AU
Longitude of ascending node
173.45°
Argument of periapsis
200.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 348.9 LD
0.8965 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.33

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
9,089
Data arc
168.2 years
First observed
20 October 1857
Last observed
20 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
42 km
Rotation period
14.32 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.05
Absolute magnitude (H)
9.43
Colour index (B–V)
0.7
Spectral type (SMASS)
Ch
Spectral type (Tholen)
X
Colour index (U–B)
0.35

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Ferguson, J.
Discovery date
4 October 1857
Discovery site
Washington

Also known as 50 · A857 TA · 1977 LU1 · A900 SB · A909 WA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Sources