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Asteroid Near-Earth

Alinda

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887 Alinda (A918 AA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.863 AU
True anomaly
174.52°
Distance from Earth
4.198 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 Alinda — 3.863 AU from the Sun Alinda
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Alinda is 4.198 AU from Earth today (34.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 27m 15s
Declination
-21° 00′ 51″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
4.21 AU
Elongation from the Sun
63.38° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
2.474 AU
Eccentricity
0.5711
Inclination
9.4°
Orbital period
3.89 years
Perihelion
1.061 AU
Aphelion
3.887 AU
Longitude of ascending node
110.41°
Argument of periapsis
350.55°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 31.2 LD
0.0801 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.22

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
5,843
Data arc
107.5 years
First observed
9 February 1918
Last observed
27 August 2025
Residual RMS
0.26 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.10 km
Rotation period
28.41 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.31
Absolute magnitude (H)
13.82
Colour index (B–V)
0.83
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.44

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Wolf, M. F.
Discovery date
3 January 1918
Discovery site
Heidelberg

Also known as 887 · 1918 DB · A918 AA

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 3 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Alinda at 2087-01-25 21:50 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2087-01-25 21:50 UTC close approach of Alinda. Catalogue miss distance 64.7 LD · 2.49 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2087-01-22 to 2087-01-28, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 64.7 LD · 2.49 × 10⁷ km 2087-01-25 21:50 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2087-01-25 21:50 UTC close approach of Alinda. Catalogue miss distance 64.7 LD · 2.49 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2087-01-22 to 2087-01-28, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2087-01-25 21:50:00 Earth 0.1663 AU 64.7 LD 11.3 km/s

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

Sources