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Asteroid

Alkmene

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82 Alkmene (A864 WA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.376 AU
True anomaly
61.27°
Distance from Earth
3.374 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 Alkmene — 2.376 AU from the Sun Alkmene
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Alkmene is 3.374 AU from Earth today (28.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 06m 45s
Declination
-06° 48′ 08″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
3.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
1.13° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
2.763 AU
Eccentricity
0.2209
Inclination
2.83°
Orbital period
4.59 years
Perihelion
2.153 AU
Aphelion
3.374 AU
Longitude of ascending node
25.38°
Argument of periapsis
110.67°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 454.9 LD
1.1689 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.303

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
8,994
Data arc
161.3 years
First observed
5 December 1864
Last observed
7 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
29 km
Rotation period
13 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.167
Absolute magnitude (H)
8.26
Colour index (B–V)
0.81
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.38

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Luther, R.
Discovery date
27 November 1864
Discovery site
Dusseldorf

Also known as 82 · A864 WA · 1952 BB · 1963 OA · 1973 GO

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-03-15 04:04:00 Juptr 1.6906 AU 657.9 LD 1 km/s
2093-03-27 13:42:00 Juptr 1.686 AU 656.2 LD 1.2 km/s
2115-07-06 16:48:00 Juptr 1.8927 AU 736.6 LD 1.5 km/s
2153-04-20 09:22:00 Juptr 1.8556 AU 722.1 LD 1.9 km/s
2175-07-29 00:21:00 Juptr 1.6992 AU 661.3 LD 1.1 km/s

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

Sources