Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

Hephaistos

Add to an observing list or journal →

2212 Hephaistos (1978 SB)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.353 AU
True anomaly
149.68°
Distance from Earth
1.373 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 Hephaistos — 2.353 AU from the Sun Hephaistos
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Hephaistos is 1.373 AU from Earth today (11.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 00m 40s
Declination
+12° 22′ 57″
Constellation
Aries
Distance from Earth
1.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
166.7° — near opposition — up most of the night

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
2.167 AU
Eccentricity
0.8346
Inclination
11.2°
Orbital period
3.19 years
Perihelion
0.358 AU
Aphelion
3.976 AU
Longitude of ascending node
26.54°
Argument of periapsis
210.48°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 43.5 LD
0.1119 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.098

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
5,596
Data arc
48.03 years
First observed
27 September 1978
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.85 km
Rotation period
2 days

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.163
Absolute magnitude (H)
13.45
Colour index (B–V)
0.77
Spectral type (Tholen)
SG
Colour index (U–B)
0.4

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Chernykh, L. I.
Discovery date
27 September 1978
Discovery site
Nauchnyj

This Apollo-type object is named for the god of fire and blacksmiths.

Also known as 2212 · 1978 SB

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 75 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-06-20 04:22:00 Venus 0.092 AU 35.8 LD 29.6 km/s
2032-09-16 15:02:00 Mercury 0.0482 AU 18.8 LD 29.3 km/s
2032-09-16 15:02:00 Merc 0.0482 AU 18.8 LD 29.3 km/s
2045-06-23 21:59:00 Merc 0.0552 AU 21.5 LD 28.5 km/s
2045-06-23 21:59:00 Mercury 0.0552 AU 21.5 LD 28.5 km/s
2051-12-11 01:01:00 Venus 0.0706 AU 27.5 LD 31.9 km/s
2059-11-12 05:12:00 Juptr 1.1656 AU 453.6 LD 7.8 km/s
2061-06-19 15:37:00 Merc 0.0875 AU 34.0 LD 43.6 km/s
2061-06-19 15:37:00 Mercury 0.0875 AU 34.0 LD 43.6 km/s
2064-07-18 22:52:00 Venus 0.1485 AU 57.8 LD 25.3 km/s

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

Sources