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Asteroid Near-Earth

Cleobulus

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4503 Cleobulus (1989 WM)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.314 AU
True anomaly
141.17°
Distance from Earth
3.845 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 Cleobulus — 3.314 AU from the Sun Cleobulus
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Cleobulus is 3.845 AU from Earth today (32.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 32m 12s
Declination
-23° 14′ 11″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
3.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
50.87° — 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
2.704 AU
Eccentricity
0.5247
Inclination
2.51°
Orbital period
4.45 years
Perihelion
1.285 AU
Aphelion
4.123 AU
Longitude of ascending node
45.94°
Argument of periapsis
76.25°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 118.5 LD
0.3045 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.151

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,482
Data arc
45.54 years
First observed
30 December 1980
Last observed
16 July 2026
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 July 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
2.82 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.82
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Shoemaker, C. S.
Discovery date
28 November 1989
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 4503 · 1989 WM · 1980 YS

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-08-01 09:03:00 Juptr 1.3531 AU 526.6 LD 4.3 km/s
2067-12-20 03:27:00 Juptr 1.9326 AU 752.1 LD 6.1 km/s
2080-08-27 01:49:00 Juptr 1.8226 AU 709.3 LD 6.6 km/s
2116-02-21 06:52:00 Juptr 1.3302 AU 517.7 LD 4.6 km/s
2151-10-03 23:45:00 Juptr 1.358 AU 528.5 LD 4.6 km/s
2187-07-09 20:12:00 Juptr 1.9281 AU 750.4 LD 6.7 km/s

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

Sources