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Asteroid Near-Earth

Heracles

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5143 Heracles (1991 VL)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.316 AU
True anomaly
235.65°
Distance from Earth
0.77 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 Heracles — 1.316 AU from the Sun Heracles
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Heracles is 0.77 AU from Earth today (6.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 07m 00s
Declination
+37° 44′ 50″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
0.76 AU
Elongation from the Sun
95.2° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
1.835 AU
Eccentricity
0.7713
Inclination
8.98°
Orbital period
2.49 years
Perihelion
0.42 AU
Aphelion
3.25 AU
Longitude of ascending node
309.1°
Argument of periapsis
228.21°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 22.4 LD
0.0575 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.583

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
5,395
Data arc
72.86 years
First observed
30 November 1953
Last observed
10 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.42 km
Rotation period
2.71 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.227
Absolute magnitude (H)
14.04
Spectral type (SMASS)
O

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Shoemaker, C. S.
Discovery date
7 November 1991
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 5143 · 1991 VL · 1962 PG

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 51 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Heracles at 2034-07-18 13:43 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-07-18 13:43 UTC close approach of Heracles. Catalogue miss distance 65.2 LD · 2.51 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-07-15 to 2034-07-21, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 65.2 LD · 2.51 × 10⁷ km 2034-07-18 13:43 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-07-18 13:43 UTC close approach of Heracles. Catalogue miss distance 65.2 LD · 2.51 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-07-15 to 2034-07-21, 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 south 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
2029-05-18 20:40:00 Venus 0.0593 AU 23.1 LD 26.9 km/s
2034-07-18 13:43:00 Earth 0.1675 AU 65.2 LD 30.3 km/s
2039-07-10 18:20:00 Earth 0.0577 AU 22.5 LD 25.3 km/s
2044-06-10 15:54:00 Venus 0.0709 AU 27.6 LD 27.8 km/s
2044-07-01 13:48:00 Earth 0.1907 AU 74.2 LD 20.4 km/s
2056-10-21 04:35:00 Merc 0.0846 AU 32.9 LD 17.6 km/s
2056-10-21 04:35:00 Mercury 0.0846 AU 32.9 LD 17.6 km/s
2058-01-12 20:26:00 Juptr 1.8245 AU 710.1 LD 5.9 km/s
2093-12-04 02:15:00 Earth 0.1279 AU 49.8 LD 24.9 km/s
2093-12-21 11:37:00 Venus 0.0537 AU 20.9 LD 27.5 km/s

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

Sources