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Asteroid

Tucapel

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2013 Tucapel (1971 UH4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.773 AU
True anomaly
353.96°
Distance from Earth
1.374 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 Tucapel — 1.773 AU from the Sun Tucapel
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Tucapel is 1.374 AU from Earth today (11.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 49m 52s
Declination
-28° 47′ 57″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
1.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
95.23° — 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
2.29 AU
Eccentricity
0.2263
Inclination
7.51°
Orbital period
3.46 years
Perihelion
1.772 AU
Aphelion
2.808 AU
Longitude of ascending node
96.49°
Argument of periapsis
237.97°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 301.1 LD
0.7737 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.554

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
9,653
Data arc
85.35 years
First observed
2 December 1940
Last observed
10 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.26 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
5.59 km
Rotation period
9.03 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.328
Absolute magnitude (H)
12.03

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
University of Chile
Discovery date
22 October 1971
Discovery site
Cerro El Roble

Named for one of the brave Araucanian chiefs who, with his wife Gualeva, victoriously entered the city of Imperial. He died in 1560, fighting against the Spanish soldiers.

Also known as 2013 · 1971 UH4 · 1936 PL · 1940 XC · 1942 EP1 · 1950 TP2 · 1969 AT · 1974 MM

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Sources