Bright asteroids

The table below lists asteroids that are currently bright enough for amateur telescopes. Near-earth objects are not included in this list.
For detailed information about one of the listed asteroids, click on its name/designation.

Asteroid Today Opposition
designation magn radius delta elong phase date magn radius delta elong phase
(1) Ceres8.52.85 AU2.40 AU106.7°19.8°5 Jul 20247.32.90 AU1.89 AU173.3°2.3°
(4) Vesta8.52.51 AU2.83 AU61.3°20.6°1 May 20255.72.18 AU1.18 AU168.3°5.4°
(2) Pallas9.02.90 AU2.16 AU129.0°15.6°19 May 20249.02.95 AU2.17 AU133.0°14.5°
(532) Herculina9.32.29 AU1.39 AU145.5°14.4°7 Apr 20249.12.28 AU1.35 AU151.7°12.0°
(6) Hebe9.92.89 AU1.93 AU157.8°7.6°22 Apr 20249.92.89 AU1.93 AU158.5°7.3°
(3) Juno10.12.82 AU2.19 AU119.1°18.2°3 Mar 20248.62.68 AU1.69 AU177.6°0.9°
(15) Eunomia10.22.18 AU3.07 AU23.2°10.5°13 Dec 20248.22.28 AU1.30 AU169.3°4.6°
(43) Ariadne10.41.91 AU1.03 AU138.9°20.3°2 Jun 20249.11.86 AU0.85 AU178.2°1.0°
(25) Phocaea10.52.26 AU1.26 AU172.5°3.3°20 Apr 202410.42.28 AU1.28 AU177.7°1.0°
(27) Euterpe10.52.57 AU1.58 AU169.4°4.1°5 May 202410.32.59 AU1.58 AU178.0°0.8°
(7) Iris10.72.52 AU2.40 AU85.3°23.4°6 Aug 20248.32.26 AU1.26 AU171.8°3.7°
(23) Thalia10.72.22 AU1.46 AU127.6°21.0°11 Mar 20249.72.13 AU1.16 AU161.9°8.4°
(12) Victoria10.82.37 AU1.46 AU148.0°13.0°1 Apr 202410.42.43 AU1.44 AU170.2°4.0°
(89) Julia10.92.94 AU2.02 AU150.6°9.7°10 Apr 202410.82.96 AU2.01 AU157.3°7.5°
(40) Harmonia10.92.26 AU1.91 AU97.1°26.2°20 Jul 20248.92.22 AU1.20 AU176.6°1.6°
(8) Flora11.01.90 AU2.79 AU23.1°12.0°12 Mar 20259.72.42 AU1.43 AU171.2°3.6°
(29) Amphitrite11.02.37 AU3.28 AU20.8°8.7°12 Feb 20259.22.53 AU1.54 AU174.6°2.1°
(9) Metis11.12.20 AU2.34 AU69.6°25.4°8 May 20259.72.64 AU1.63 AU176.7°1.3°
(354) Eleonora11.22.49 AU2.41 AU82.5°23.6°19 May 202510.32.77 AU1.83 AU151.9°9.9°
(18) Melpomene11.22.18 AU2.68 AU50.8°20.9°24 Mar 202510.12.77 AU1.78 AU171.2°3.2°
(39) Laetitia11.32.51 AU3.06 AU48.0°17.4°7 Oct 20249.12.46 AU1.47 AU169.3°4.3°
(42) Isis11.42.13 AU1.48 AU116.9°24.9°27 Jun 20249.42.01 AU0.99 AU176.1°2.0°
(30) Urania11.52.66 AU1.70 AU156.6°8.6°7 Apr 202411.02.65 AU1.65 AU176.8°1.2°
(385) Ilmatar11.52.53 AU1.58 AU155.6°9.4°9 Apr 202411.22.52 AU1.53 AU166.8°5.2°
A845 XA11.52.09 AU2.15 AU73.0°27.4°6 Jun 202510.62.70 AU1.69 AU172.2°2.9°
(5) Astraea11.52.09 AU2.16 AU72.7°27.3°5 Jun 202510.62.69 AU1.69 AU172.1°3.0°
(129) Antigone11.52.56 AU1.93 AU117.3°20.5°2 Mar 202410.62.67 AU1.69 AU171.2°3.2°
(349) Dembowska11.53.15 AU2.60 AU114.1°17.0°11 May 202510.33.13 AU2.12 AU176.0°1.3°
(68) Leto11.62.71 AU2.04 AU121.7°18.4°19 Jun 202410.32.60 AU1.60 AU170.8°3.6°
(85) Io11.62.68 AU1.69 AU171.1°3.3°2 May 202411.52.67 AU1.67 AU173.6°2.4°
(56) Melete11.62.23 AU1.29 AU152.2°12.1°19 May 202411.02.18 AU1.18 AU169.2°5.0°
(110) Lydia11.62.83 AU1.83 AU176.8°1.1°27 Apr 202411.62.83 AU1.83 AU176.9°1.1°
(80) Sappho11.72.49 AU1.55 AU153.7°10.3°18 May 202411.02.45 AU1.44 AU175.1°2.0°
(11) Parthenope11.72.24 AU3.06 AU29.7°12.9°13 Nov 20249.82.43 AU1.44 AU172.5°3.1°
(63) Ausonia11.72.46 AU2.00 AU104.4°23.4°2 Aug 20259.32.14 AU1.12 AU174.9°2.4°
(64) Angelina11.72.70 AU1.74 AU158.1°8.0°15 May 202411.32.73 AU1.72 AU178.0°0.7°
(16) Psyche11.72.85 AU2.77 AU84.2°20.5°5 Aug 20249.72.72 AU1.71 AU178.4°0.6°
(10) Hygiea11.93.32 AU4.18 AU27.3°8.0°21 Oct 202410.53.44 AU2.45 AU174.8°1.5°
(471) Papagena11.93.22 AU2.72 AU111.1°17.0°30 Jun 202410.63.09 AU2.08 AU174.0°2.0°


For each of the asteroids listed, the current position is plotted in the below all-sky chart:





    Terminology:
            
    delta:      Distance between asteroid and earth in AU
    radius:     Distance between asteroid and sun in AU
    magn:       Magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    elong:      Elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-asteroid)    
    AU:         Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km    
    Perihelion: On this date the comet (or other type of body) is closest to the sun
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.