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Asteroid

Europa

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52 Europa (A858 CA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.755 AU
True anomaly
14.32°
Distance from Earth
3.197 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 Europa — 2.755 AU from the Sun Europa
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Europa is 3.197 AU from Earth today (26.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 42m 12s
Declination
+13° 27′ 28″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
3.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
55.81° — 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
3.094 AU
Eccentricity
0.1125
Inclination
7.48°
Orbital period
5.44 years
Perihelion
2.746 AU
Aphelion
3.442 AU
Longitude of ascending node
128.57°
Argument of periapsis
342.8°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 686.3 LD
1.7635 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.201

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
12,102
Data arc
165.7 years
First observed
9 July 1860
Last observed
20 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.29 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
152 km
Rotation period
5.63 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.057
Absolute magnitude (H)
6.65
Colour index (B–V)
0.68
Spectral type (SMASS)
C
Spectral type (Tholen)
CF
Colour index (U–B)
0.34

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Goldschmidt, H.
Discovery date
4 February 1858
Discovery site
Paris

Also known as 52 · A858 CA · 1948 LA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2057-02-24 07:20:00 Juptr 1.6924 AU 658.6 LD 2.7 km/s
2067-02-03 15:53:00 Juptr 1.9502 AU 759.0 LD 2.8 km/s
2117-10-14 09:24:00 Juptr 1.8606 AU 724.1 LD 3.1 km/s
2127-09-14 23:01:00 Juptr 1.7074 AU 664.5 LD 2.6 km/s
2188-04-27 01:33:00 Juptr 1.7338 AU 674.8 LD 2.7 km/s
2198-04-03 02:04:00 Juptr 1.8079 AU 703.6 LD 2.7 km/s

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

Sources