Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 4.04 AU
- True anomaly
- 192.16°
- Distance from Earth
- 4.577 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 09h 39m 22s
- Declination
- -04° 59′ 01″
- Constellation
- Hydra
- Distance from Earth
- 4.57 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 52.49° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
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.
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
- 2.465 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.7483
- Inclination
- 21.01°
- Orbital period
- 3.87 years
- Perihelion
- 0.62 AU
- Aphelion
- 4.31 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 241.89°
- Argument of periapsis
- 64.04°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 42.3 LD
- 0.1087 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 2.963
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 674
- Data arc
- 44.18 years
- First observed
- 4 November 1981
- Last observed
- 9 January 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.51 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 10 January 2026
Physical properties
- Mean radius
- 0.90 km
Visual & observation
- Geometric albedo
- 0.17
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 16.03
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- Helin, E. F., Dunbar, R. S.
- Discovery date
- 4 November 1981
- Discovery site
- Palomar
In 1918 the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) composed the tone poem <i>Pan and Syrinx</i>, based on a story in Ovid's <i>Metamorphoses</i>. Syrinx was a river nymph who was pursued by Pan. The gods, taking pity on her, transformed her into a collection of reeds. The name was suggested by J. Meeus.
Also known as 3360 · 1981 VA
Close approaches 20 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2085-11-02 09:29 UTC close approach of Syrinx. Catalogue miss distance 63.5 LD · 2.44 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2085-10-30 to 2085-11-05, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2032-03-27 04:51:00 | Mars | 0.0953 AU | 37.1 LD | 18.9 km/s |
| 2035-10-17 23:43:00 | Venus | 0.0542 AU | 21.1 LD | 25.3 km/s |
| 2051-03-11 04:21:00 | Venus | 0.1108 AU | 43.1 LD | 21.5 km/s |
| 2085-08-24 10:13:00 | Venus | 0.1426 AU | 55.5 LD | 20.7 km/s |
| 2085-11-02 09:29:00 | Earth | 0.1632 AU | 63.5 LD | 26.1 km/s |
| 2108-10-25 19:38:00 | Earth | 0.1938 AU | 75.4 LD | 21.3 km/s |
| 2133-01-27 08:03:00 | Juptr | 1.9442 AU | 756.6 LD | 8.3 km/s |
| 2144-10-21 08:13:00 | Juptr | 1.8087 AU | 703.9 LD | 7 km/s |
| 2156-08-16 08:03:00 | Juptr | 1.8209 AU | 708.7 LD | 6.1 km/s |
| 2158-11-06 02:22:00 | Venus | 0.1178 AU | 45.8 LD | 20.8 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB