Skip to content
Solar
Moon

Portia

Orbits Uranus

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
19.435 AU
True anomaly
251.66°
Distance from Earth
18.852 AU
As of
2 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.

Sun Earth — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Uranus — 19.435 AU from the Sun Uranus
Portia is shown at its parent, Uranus. Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Uranus is 18.852 AU from Earth today (2.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 12m 45s
Declination
+20° 59′ 41″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
18.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
125.1° — well clear of the Sun

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

Shown at its parent's position — a moon sits within a fraction of a degree of its planet.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it's up after dark, 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
0 AU
Eccentricity
0.004
Inclination
2.7°
Orbital period
12.3 hours
Perihelion
0 AU
Aphelion
0 AU
Longitude of ascending node
146.7°
Argument of periapsis
31.6°
Epoch · Laplace
2025-01-01.0

Physical properties

Axial tilt
180°

Discovery & classification

Discovery date
1986

Sources