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Asteroid

Sylvia

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87 Sylvia (A866 KA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.767 AU
True anomaly
149.93°
Distance from Earth
4.076 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 Sylvia — 3.767 AU from the Sun Sylvia
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Sylvia is 4.076 AU from Earth today (33.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 55m 52s
Declination
+21° 33′ 37″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
4.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
65.66° — 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
3.491 AU
Eccentricity
0.0942
Inclination
10.85°
Orbital period
6.52 years
Perihelion
3.162 AU
Aphelion
3.82 AU
Longitude of ascending node
72.95°
Argument of periapsis
267.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · OMB
Outer main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 847.7 LD
2.1782 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.092

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
7,387
Data arc
140.9 years
First observed
5 May 1885
Last observed
5 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
127 km
Rotation period
5.18 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.046
Absolute magnitude (H)
6.93
Colour index (B–V)
0.71
Spectral type (SMASS)
X
Spectral type (Tholen)
P
Colour index (U–B)
0.25

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Pogson, N. R.
Discovery date
16 May 1866
Discovery site
Madras

Also known as 87 · A866 KA · A909 GA

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 21 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2026-11-23 22:23:00 Juptr 1.6915 AU 658.3 LD 2.2 km/s
2041-07-19 07:26:00 Juptr 1.7944 AU 698.3 LD 3.2 km/s
2055-10-15 18:33:00 Juptr 1.8957 AU 737.7 LD 4.1 km/s
2070-03-03 04:13:00 Juptr 1.8378 AU 715.2 LD 3.7 km/s
2084-07-17 04:51:00 Juptr 1.572 AU 611.8 LD 3.4 km/s
2099-03-09 06:09:00 Juptr 1.7622 AU 685.8 LD 2 km/s
2113-08-18 20:52:00 Juptr 1.8043 AU 702.2 LD 3.8 km/s
2127-11-23 19:49:00 Juptr 1.9321 AU 751.9 LD 3.8 km/s
2142-04-25 01:08:00 Juptr 1.6985 AU 661.0 LD 3.8 km/s
2156-09-10 19:22:00 Juptr 1.6413 AU 638.8 LD 2.6 km/s

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

Sources