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
(4) Vesta8.32.57 AU2.39 AU89.0°23.0°21 Dec 20236.42.57 AU1.58 AU177.1°1.1°
(18) Melpomene8.71.80 AU0.97 AU130.9°25.0°5 Nov 20238.01.82 AU0.86 AU159.2°11.1°
(1) Ceres8.92.68 AU3.47 AU32.5°11.6°5 Jul 20247.32.90 AU1.89 AU173.3°2.3°
(2) Pallas9.02.39 AU3.38 AU7.4°3.1°19 May 20249.02.95 AU2.17 AU133.0°14.5°
(29) Amphitrite9.02.43 AU1.44 AU171.0°3.7°1 Oct 20238.82.43 AU1.43 AU177.6°1.0°
(8) Flora9.11.96 AU1.05 AU145.0°17.1°26 Aug 20238.52.01 AU1.00 AU171.9°4.0°
(3) Juno10.12.24 AU2.88 AU42.2°17.5°3 Mar 20248.62.68 AU1.69 AU177.6°0.9°
(15) Eunomia10.22.54 AU2.19 AU98.6°23.0°13 Dec 20248.22.28 AU1.30 AU169.3°4.6°
(88) Thisbe10.42.42 AU1.43 AU170.1°4.1°20 Sep 202310.32.42 AU1.42 AU171.2°3.7°
(9) Metis10.52.10 AU1.80 AU92.8°28.5°22 Dec 20238.42.10 AU1.12 AU176.1°1.8°
(97) Klotho10.62.29 AU1.29 AU170.8°4.0°19 Sep 202310.52.30 AU1.30 AU174.0°2.6°
A868 DB10.62.29 AU1.29 AU170.8°4.0°19 Sep 202310.52.30 AU1.30 AU174.0°2.6°
(55) Pandora10.72.37 AU1.37 AU175.4°1.9°21 Sep 202310.62.38 AU1.37 AU177.3°1.1°
(10) Hygiea10.83.10 AU2.36 AU129.8°14.4°10 Aug 20239.83.05 AU2.04 AU176.8°1.1°
(21) Lutetia10.82.17 AU1.35 AU134.0°19.4°2 Nov 202310.02.24 AU1.25 AU176.3°1.6°
(14) Irene10.93.01 AU2.04 AU162.4°5.8°4 Oct 202310.93.01 AU2.03 AU166.8°4.3°
(532) Herculina11.12.38 AU3.18 AU31.5°12.7°7 Apr 20249.12.28 AU1.35 AU151.7°12.0°
A858 BA11.12.52 AU1.54 AU164.9°6.0°12 Sep 202310.72.52 AU1.52 AU178.0°0.8°
(6) Hebe11.12.86 AU3.85 AU8.1°2.8°22 Apr 20249.92.89 AU1.93 AU158.5°7.3°
(148) Gallia11.12.26 AU1.44 AU135.4°18.1°20 Oct 202311.02.25 AU1.39 AU141.4°16.0°
(135) Hertha11.22.08 AU1.17 AU146.3°15.5°22 Oct 202310.52.14 AU1.14 AU176.9°1.5°
(51) Nemausa11.22.52 AU1.54 AU164.9°6.0°12 Sep 202310.82.52 AU1.52 AU178.0°0.8°
(26) Proserpina11.22.76 AU1.76 AU176.1°1.4°24 Sep 202311.22.76 AU1.76 AU176.0°1.4°
A875 PA11.22.26 AU1.44 AU135.4°18.1°20 Oct 202311.02.25 AU1.39 AU141.4°16.0°
2018 RH7311.33.10 AU2.36 AU129.3°14.5°9 Aug 202310.33.05 AU2.03 AU176.8°1.1°
(11) Parthenope11.42.24 AU2.19 AU80.1°26.1°13 Nov 20249.82.43 AU1.44 AU172.5°3.1°
(39) Laetitia11.42.72 AU2.75 AU77.5°21.1°7 Oct 20249.12.46 AU1.47 AU169.3°4.3°
(563) Suleika11.42.29 AU1.32 AU162.1°7.7°24 Sep 202311.42.29 AU1.32 AU162.1°7.7°
(7) Iris11.52.88 AU3.44 AU48.7°15.2°6 Aug 20248.32.26 AU1.26 AU171.8°3.7°
(28) Bellona11.52.92 AU1.94 AU164.6°5.2°4 Oct 202311.32.91 AU1.92 AU169.5°3.6°
(233) Asterope11.52.40 AU1.40 AU171.4°3.6°24 Sep 202311.52.40 AU1.40 AU171.3°3.6°
(354) Eleonora11.52.62 AU2.78 AU70.3°21.1°18 Jan 20249.52.52 AU1.55 AU168.4°4.5°
(60) Echo11.52.41 AU1.41 AU176.5°1.5°21 Sep 202311.42.42 AU1.41 AU178.2°0.7°
(144) Vibilia11.52.06 AU1.35 AU121.8°24.4°16 Nov 202310.32.14 AU1.15 AU176.6°1.6°
(13) Egeria11.52.77 AU2.01 AU130.5°16.0°15 Aug 202311.12.78 AU1.83 AU154.7°8.9°
(704) Interamnia11.62.72 AU2.49 AU92.1°21.6°17 Dec 202310.22.83 AU1.85 AU172.9°2.4°
(238) Hypatia11.62.68 AU1.68 AU175.2°1.8°20 Sep 202311.52.69 AU1.68 AU177.6°0.9°
(40) Harmonia11.62.36 AU3.24 AU23.2°9.7°20 Jul 20248.92.22 AU1.20 AU176.6°1.6°
A884 NA11.62.68 AU1.68 AU175.2°1.8°20 Sep 202311.62.69 AU1.68 AU177.6°0.9°
(602) Marianna11.62.32 AU1.34 AU166.5°5.8°24 Sep 202311.62.32 AU1.34 AU166.6°5.7°
(37) Fides11.62.19 AU1.84 AU96.1°27.1°18 Dec 20239.82.19 AU1.21 AU174.5°2.4°
(674) Rachele11.72.70 AU1.82 AU144.6°12.4°23 Oct 202311.02.64 AU1.66 AU169.5°3.9°
(27) Euterpe11.72.18 AU3.17 AU10.1°4.6°5 May 202410.32.59 AU1.58 AU178.0°0.8°
(5) Astraea11.72.36 AU2.16 AU88.9°25.1°27 Dec 20239.42.20 AU1.22 AU173.0°3.1°
A845 XA11.72.36 AU2.15 AU88.7°25.2°27 Dec 20239.42.19 AU1.21 AU173.0°3.2°
(678) Fredegundis11.72.08 AU1.09 AU165.6°6.9°1 Oct 202311.62.07 AU1.08 AU168.2°5.7°
(393) Lampetia11.71.89 AU1.31 AU108.2°30.4°8 Dec 202413.23.22 AU2.26 AU164.9°4.6°
(23) Thalia11.82.04 AU2.52 AU50.9°22.4°11 Mar 20249.72.13 AU1.16 AU161.9°8.4°
(54) Alexandra11.92.20 AU1.60 AU113.2°24.8°29 Nov 202412.32.97 AU2.01 AU163.9°5.3°
(234) Barbara11.91.80 AU1.09 AU118.7°29.2°26 Jul 202310.71.86 AU0.86 AU167.6°6.7°
(20) Massalia11.92.75 AU2.70 AU82.4°21.2°29 Sep 20249.22.40 AU1.40 AU179.5°0.2°
(323) Brucia11.91.76 AU0.97 AU126.1°27.4°28 Aug 202311.81.83 AU0.95 AU137.1°22.1°
A892 WB11.92.27 AU1.30 AU161.5°8.0°8 Oct 202311.62.27 AU1.27 AU174.6°2.4°
(346) Hermentaria11.92.53 AU1.99 AU111.0°21.7°26 Nov 202310.72.57 AU1.58 AU173.3°2.6°


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.