Asteroid 5 Astraea

5 Astraea is a relatively small main-belt asteroid located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered 8 December 1845 by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Hencke and is named after the Greek goddess of justice. Astraea has a diameter of approximately 119 kilometers and is irregularly shaped, with a rotation period of about 16 hours. Its surface is covered in numerous impact craters, some of which are several kilometers in diameter. Astraea's composition is thought to be a mixture of rock and metal, similar to the composition of the Earth's crust. It has a relatively low density compared to other asteroids, indicating that it may have a porous interior. Astraea orbits the Sun once every 4.14 Earth years and has been observed by ground-based telescopes, which have revealed insights into its geology, composition, and history.

Asteroid 5 Astraea is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 290,921,290.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 32m 27s and the Declination is -16° 17’ 07” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 5 Astraea is 11.50 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 5 Astraea is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Asteroid 5 Astraea?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 5 Astraea in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

J2000

Additional Information

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 5 Astraea from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 5 Astraea from Earth is currently 290,921,290.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.9446887087 Astronomical Units. Light takes 16m 10.409s to travel from Asteroid 5 Astraea and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 5 Astraea from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 5 Astraea from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 5 Astraea to Earth happens on Fri Feb 13 1925 at a distance of 1.093100 Astronomical Units, or 163,525,365 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 5 Astraea, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 5 Astraea computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2025 Apr 05	17h 30m 40s	-16° 32’ 06”	11.62	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 06	17h 30m 59s	-16° 30’ 15”	11.60	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 07	17h 31m 17s	-16° 28’ 23”	11.59	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 08	17h 31m 33s	-16° 26’ 30”	11.57	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 09	17h 31m 47s	-16° 24’ 36”	11.56	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 10	17h 32m 00s	-16° 22’ 42”	11.54	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 11	17h 32m 11s	-16° 20’ 46”	11.53	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 12	17h 32m 20s	-16° 18’ 49”	11.51	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 13	17h 32m 28s	-16° 16’ 53”	11.50	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 14	17h 32m 33s	-16° 14’ 55”	11.48	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 15	17h 32m 38s	-16° 12’ 57”	11.47	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 16	17h 32m 40s	-16° 10’ 58”	11.45	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 17	17h 32m 41s	-16° 08’ 59”	11.44	Ophiuchus
2025 Apr 18	17h 32m 40s	-16° 07’ 00”	11.42	Ophiuchus

Additional Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Asteroid 5 Astraea?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 5 Astraea from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 5 Astraea rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 5 Astraea?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Asteroid 5 Astraea orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 5 Astraea with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• Physical data. Detailed information about physical properties of Asteroid 5 Astraea, such as mass and geometric properties.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 5 Astraea for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 5 Astraea in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 5 Astraea with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.