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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

Florence

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3122 Florence (1981 ET3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.637 AU
True anomaly
254.51°
Distance from Earth
2.27 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 Florence — 1.637 AU from the Sun Florence
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Florence is 2.27 AU from Earth today (18.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 18m 44s
Declination
-34° 11′ 07″
Constellation
Lupus
Distance from Earth
2.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
39.82° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
1.769 AU
Eccentricity
0.4232
Inclination
22.14°
Orbital period
859.4 days
Perihelion
1.02 AU
Aphelion
2.518 AU
Longitude of ascending node
336.04°
Argument of periapsis
27.87°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 17.1 LD
0.0439 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.92

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
10,321
Data arc
47.48 years
First observed
9 March 1979
Last observed
30 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.29 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 August 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.45 km
Rotation period
2.36 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.231
Absolute magnitude (H)
14.08
Spectral type (SMASS)
S

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Bus, S. J.
Discovery date
2 March 1981
Discovery site
Siding Spring

Also known as 3122 · 1981 ET3 · 1983 CN1

Amor Near-Earth Object Named Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 7 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Florence at 2057-09-02 00:41 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2057-09-02 00:41 UTC close approach of Florence. Catalogue miss distance 19.4 LD · 7.47 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2057-08-30 to 2057-09-05, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 19.4 LD · 7.47 × 10⁶ km 2057-09-02 00:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2057-09-02 00:41 UTC close approach of Florence. Catalogue miss distance 19.4 LD · 7.47 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2057-08-30 to 2057-09-05, 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 north 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
2057-09-02 00:41:00 Earth 0.05 AU 19.4 LD 13.5 km/s
2097-09-11 03:08:00 Earth 0.1558 AU 60.6 LD 13 km/s
2130-08-27 19:25:00 Earth 0.087 AU 33.9 LD 14.6 km/s
2170-08-28 08:55:00 Earth 0.0781 AU 30.4 LD 14.5 km/s

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

Sources