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Asteroid Near-Earth

Antinous

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1863 Antinous (1948 EA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.384 AU
True anomaly
86.91°
Distance from Earth
0.834 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 Antinous — 1.384 AU from the Sun Antinous
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Antinous is 0.834 AU from Earth today (6.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 56m 25s
Declination
-22° 40′ 01″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
97.68° — 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
2.259 AU
Eccentricity
0.6062
Inclination
18.38°
Orbital period
3.4 years
Perihelion
0.89 AU
Aphelion
3.629 AU
Longitude of ascending node
345.54°
Argument of periapsis
269.11°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 73.2 LD
0.1881 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.298

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,033
Data arc
78.59 years
First observed
5 March 1948
Last observed
8 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.05 km
Rotation period
7.45 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.24
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.32
Colour index (B–V)
0.76
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq
Spectral type (Tholen)
SU
Colour index (U–B)
0.36

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Wirtanen, C. A.
Discovery date
7 March 1948
Discovery site
Mount Hamilton

Also known as 1863 · 1948 EA

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 8 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Antinous at 2094-08-13 08:54 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2094-08-13 08:54 UTC close approach of Antinous. Catalogue miss distance 75.2 LD · 2.89 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2094-08-10 to 2094-08-16, 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. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 75.2 LD · 2.89 × 10⁷ km 2094-08-13 08:54 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2094-08-13 08:54 UTC close approach of Antinous. Catalogue miss distance 75.2 LD · 2.89 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2094-08-10 to 2094-08-16, 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. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. 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
2094-08-13 08:54:00 Earth 0.1931 AU 75.2 LD 18 km/s

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

Sources