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Asteroid

Hesperia

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69 Hesperia (A861 HC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.194 AU
True anomaly
124.06°
Distance from Earth
4.092 AU
As of
21 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 Hesperia — 3.194 AU from the Sun Hesperia
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hesperia is 4.092 AU from Earth today (34.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 16m 56s
Declination
-12° 42′ 11″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
4.09 AU
Elongation from the Sun
22.2° — 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
2.977 AU
Eccentricity
0.1689
Inclination
8.59°
Orbital period
5.14 years
Perihelion
2.474 AU
Aphelion
3.48 AU
Longitude of ascending node
184.89°
Argument of periapsis
288.18°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 586.4 LD
1.5068 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.222

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
5,224
Data arc
165 years
First observed
29 April 1861
Last observed
13 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
69 km
Rotation period
5.66 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.14
Absolute magnitude (H)
7.21
Colour index (B–V)
0.67
Spectral type (SMASS)
X
Spectral type (Tholen)
M
Colour index (U–B)
0.23

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Schiaparelli, G.
Discovery date
29 April 1861
Discovery site
Milan

Also known as 69 · A861 HC · 1932 CM1 · 1945 NB

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-09-24 07:44:00 Juptr 1.7238 AU 670.9 LD 2.5 km/s
2070-02-25 06:15:00 Juptr 1.8578 AU 723.0 LD 3.5 km/s
2115-04-09 22:31:00 Juptr 1.8434 AU 717.4 LD 1.6 km/s
2151-10-04 21:10:00 Juptr 1.7078 AU 664.6 LD 1.9 km/s
2188-03-08 00:54:00 Juptr 1.7204 AU 669.5 LD 2.8 km/s

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

Sources