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Asteroid

Feronia

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72 Feronia (A861 KA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.222 AU
True anomaly
87.76°
Distance from Earth
1.328 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 Feronia — 2.222 AU from the Sun Feronia
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Feronia is 1.328 AU from Earth today (11.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 24m 21s
Declination
+16° 54′ 38″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
1.32 AU
Elongation from the Sun
146° — 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
2.266 AU
Eccentricity
0.1213
Inclination
5.42°
Orbital period
3.41 years
Perihelion
1.991 AU
Aphelion
2.541 AU
Longitude of ascending node
207.93°
Argument of periapsis
102.68°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 383.2 LD
0.9847 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.601

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
7,927
Data arc
160.3 years
First observed
23 June 1865
Last observed
15 October 2025
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 March 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
37 km
Rotation period
8.1 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.083
Absolute magnitude (H)
9.08
Colour index (B–V)
0.79
Spectral type (Tholen)
TDG
Colour index (U–B)
0.38

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Peters, C. H. F.
Discovery date
29 May 1861
Discovery site
Clinton

Also known as 72 · A861 KA · 1927 TK · 1950 LJ · A902 GA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Sources