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Asteroid Near-Earth

Betulia

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1580 Betulia (1950 KA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.265 AU
True anomaly
179.41°
Distance from Earth
2.505 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 Betulia — 3.265 AU from the Sun Betulia
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Betulia is 2.505 AU from Earth today (20.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 14m 40s
Declination
-00° 38′ 41″
Constellation
Eridanus
Distance from Earth
2.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
133.32° — well clear of the Sun

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
2.195 AU
Eccentricity
0.4876
Inclination
52.19°
Orbital period
3.25 years
Perihelion
1.125 AU
Aphelion
3.265 AU
Longitude of ascending node
62.22°
Argument of periapsis
159.71°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 52.2 LD
0.1341 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.066

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,259
Data arc
73.9 years
First observed
27 October 1952
Last observed
20 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 September 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.90 km
Rotation period
6.13 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.08
Absolute magnitude (H)
14.54
Colour index (B–V)
0.66
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.25

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Johnson, E. L.
Discovery date
22 May 1950
Discovery site
Johannesburg

Also known as 1580 · 1950 KA

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 13 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Betulia at 2142-05-21 08:09 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2142-05-21 08:09 UTC close approach of Betulia. Catalogue miss distance 68.0 LD · 2.61 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2142-05-18 to 2142-05-24, 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 68.0 LD · 2.61 × 10⁷ km 2142-05-21 08:09 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2142-05-21 08:09 UTC close approach of Betulia. Catalogue miss distance 68.0 LD · 2.61 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2142-05-18 to 2142-05-24, 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
2059-08-19 22:11:00 Juptr 1.9745 AU 768.4 LD 12.1 km/s
2095-05-29 16:59:00 Juptr 1.8652 AU 725.9 LD 11.6 km/s
2131-03-07 17:55:00 Juptr 1.8671 AU 726.6 LD 11.3 km/s
2142-05-21 08:09:00 Earth 0.1746 AU 68.0 LD 27.9 km/s
2155-05-25 00:50:00 Earth 0.1508 AU 58.7 LD 28.2 km/s
2166-12-13 09:42:00 Juptr 1.9751 AU 768.7 LD 11.2 km/s
2168-05-26 02:13:00 Earth 0.1726 AU 67.2 LD 28.3 km/s

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

Sources