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Asteroid Near-Earth

Don Quixote

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3552 Don Quixote (1983 SA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.074 AU
True anomaly
272.32°
Distance from Earth
2.995 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 Don Quixote — 2.074 AU from the Sun Don Quixote
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Don Quixote is 2.995 AU from Earth today (24.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 24m 28s
Declination
-25° 44′ 42″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
2.99 AU
Elongation from the Sun
18.6° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
4.271 AU
Eccentricity
0.7074
Inclination
31.05°
Orbital period
8.83 years
Perihelion
1.25 AU
Aphelion
7.292 AU
Longitude of ascending node
349.97°
Argument of periapsis
316.49°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 133.2 LD
0.3423 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.316

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,774
Data arc
42.79 years
First observed
10 September 1983
Last observed
25 June 2026
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
9.50 km
Rotation period
6.67 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.03
Absolute magnitude (H)
13.02
Spectral type (SMASS)
D
Spectral type (Tholen)
D

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Wild, P.
Discovery date
26 September 1983
Discovery site
Zimmerwald

Also known as 3552 · 1983 SA

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2051-08-17 17:26:00 Juptr 0.7959 AU 309.7 LD 9.5 km/s
2087-03-07 16:31:00 Juptr 1.6451 AU 640.2 LD 8.1 km/s
2169-12-06 11:26:00 Juptr 0.8288 AU 322.5 LD 12.6 km/s

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

Sources