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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

Midas

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1981 Midas (1973 EA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.905 AU
True anomaly
185.68°
Distance from Earth
2.851 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 Midas — 2.905 AU from the Sun Midas
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Midas is 2.851 AU from Earth today (23.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 58m 51s
Declination
+59° 58′ 28″
Constellation
Ursa Major
Distance from Earth
2.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
83.49° — 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
1.776 AU
Eccentricity
0.6504
Inclination
39.82°
Orbital period
864.7 days
Perihelion
0.621 AU
Aphelion
2.932 AU
Longitude of ascending node
356.79°
Argument of periapsis
267.85°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 1.5 LD
0.0038 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.611

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,498
Data arc
52.83 years
First observed
6 March 1973
Last observed
2 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 March 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.70 km
Rotation period
5.22 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.28
Spectral type (SMASS)
V

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Kowal, C. T.
Discovery date
6 March 1973
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 1981 · 1973 EA

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 17 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Midas at 2032-09-14 14:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-09-14 14:57 UTC close approach of Midas. Catalogue miss distance 33.6 LD · 1.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-09-11 to 2032-09-17, 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 33.6 LD · 1.29 × 10⁷ km 2032-09-14 14:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-09-14 14:57 UTC close approach of Midas. Catalogue miss distance 33.6 LD · 1.29 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-09-11 to 2032-09-17, 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
2032-09-14 14:57:00 Earth 0.0864 AU 33.6 LD 26.4 km/s
2058-09-23 08:00:00 Earth 0.1199 AU 46.7 LD 30.7 km/s
2063-03-14 10:17:00 Earth 0.0825 AU 32.1 LD 30.2 km/s
2089-03-20 14:00:00 Earth 0.0723 AU 28.1 LD 26.8 km/s
2103-09-14 00:46:00 Earth 0.1338 AU 52.1 LD 25.4 km/s
2129-09-20 14:31:00 Earth 0.0485 AU 18.9 LD 29 km/s
2134-03-11 20:43:00 Earth 0.1522 AU 59.2 LD 31.8 km/s
2160-03-21 01:27:00 Earth 0.0722 AU 28.1 LD 26.8 km/s
2174-09-15 06:22:00 Earth 0.092 AU 35.8 LD 26.3 km/s
2200-09-25 11:56:00 Earth 0.1431 AU 55.7 LD 31.2 km/s

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

Sources