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) Vesta | 8.5 | 2.55 AU | 3.50 AU | 17.8° | 7.0° | 4 Mar 2021 | 6.1 | 2.34 AU | 1.36 AU | 169.2° | 4.5° |
| (7) Iris | 9.7 | 2.69 AU | 1.77 AU | 148.3° | 11.4° | 28 Jun 2020 | 8.9 | 2.63 AU | 1.62 AU | 177.4° | 1.0° |
| (2) Pallas | 9.8 | 3.33 AU | 2.72 AU | 119.1° | 15.4° | 13 Jul 2020 | 9.6 | 3.37 AU | 2.56 AU | 136.4° | 12.0° |
| (15) Eunomia | 10.0 | 2.18 AU | 3.15 AU | 13.0° | 6.0° | 21 Jan 2021 | 8.5 | 2.55 AU | 1.57 AU | 177.0° | 1.2° |
| (42) Isis | 10.1 | 2.21 AU | 1.21 AU | 168.2° | 5.4° | 23 May 2020 | 10.0 | 2.23 AU | 1.22 AU | 174.1° | 2.7° |
| (532) Herculina | 10.2 | 2.69 AU | 1.80 AU | 143.1° | 13.1° | 2 Jul 2020 | 9.5 | 2.74 AU | 1.73 AU | 176.8° | 1.2° |
| (18) Melpomene | 10.6 | 1.85 AU | 2.81 AU | 14.4° | 7.8° | 2 Feb 2021 | 9.4 | 2.41 AU | 1.42 AU | 174.9° | 2.1° |
| (3) Juno | 10.6 | 3.16 AU | 2.60 AU | 114.6° | 17.0° | 2 Apr 2020 | 9.5 | 3.05 AU | 2.06 AU | 172.2° | 2.5° |
| (40) Harmonia | 10.7 | 2.35 AU | 1.52 AU | 135.1° | 17.7° | 23 Apr 2020 | 9.8 | 2.36 AU | 1.36 AU | 173.5° | 2.8° |
| (354) Eleonora | 10.8 | 2.66 AU | 1.97 AU | 122.6° | 18.7° | 13 Apr 2020 | 10.1 | 2.61 AU | 1.67 AU | 153.6° | 9.8° |
| (349) Dembowska | 10.8 | 3.13 AU | 2.17 AU | 156.4° | 7.5° | 12 May 2020 | 10.4 | 3.14 AU | 2.13 AU | 176.0° | 1.3° |
| (29) Amphitrite | 10.9 | 2.38 AU | 3.37 AU | 10.3° | 4.4° | 22 Feb 2021 | 9.2 | 2.55 AU | 1.56 AU | 176.1° | 1.5° |
| (85) Io | 10.9 | 2.37 AU | 1.40 AU | 158.4° | 9.0° | 12 Jun 2020 | 10.8 | 2.35 AU | 1.36 AU | 162.2° | 7.6° |
| (8) Flora | 10.9 | 1.99 AU | 2.18 AU | 65.5° | 27.7° | 1 Nov 2020 | 8.0 | 1.86 AU | 0.88 AU | 168.0° | 6.4° |
| (6) Hebe | 10.9 | 2.91 AU | 2.34 AU | 114.4° | 18.5° | 4 Apr 2020 | 10.1 | 2.92 AU | 1.95 AU | 161.4° | 6.3° |
| (129) Antigone | 11.0 | 2.33 AU | 1.54 AU | 130.0° | 19.5° | 15 Jul 2020 | 10.1 | 2.39 AU | 1.38 AU | 171.7° | 3.5° |
| (23) Thalia | 11.0 | 2.54 AU | 1.71 AU | 136.7° | 15.9° | 24 Apr 2020 | 10.0 | 2.44 AU | 1.44 AU | 170.7° | 3.8° |
| (9) Metis | 11.0 | 2.12 AU | 3.01 AU | 24.2° | 11.3° | 4 Apr 2021 | 9.5 | 2.50 AU | 1.50 AU | 172.4° | 3.0° |
| (779) Nina | 11.1 | 2.46 AU | 1.47 AU | 166.2° | 5.7° | 31 May 2020 | 11.1 | 2.47 AU | 1.47 AU | 166.1° | 5.7° |
| (56) Melete | 11.1 | 2.03 AU | 1.11 AU | 146.1° | 16.1° | 28 Jun 2020 | 10.6 | 2.00 AU | 1.01 AU | 163.8° | 8.1° |
| (39) Laetitia | 11.4 | 2.50 AU | 3.40 AU | 23.1° | 9.1° | 21 Dec 2020 | 9.9 | 2.70 AU | 1.74 AU | 165.0° | 5.4° |
| (16) Psyche | 11.4 | 2.54 AU | 3.36 AU | 30.5° | 11.7° | 7 Dec 2020 | 9.5 | 2.68 AU | 1.69 AU | 175.2° | 1.8° |
| (100) Hekate | 11.4 | 2.74 AU | 1.74 AU | 168.1° | 4.4° | 8 Jun 2020 | 11.3 | 2.73 AU | 1.72 AU | 172.2° | 2.9° |
| (11) Parthenope | 11.4 | 2.23 AU | 2.56 AU | 59.9° | 23.2° | 23 Oct 2020 | 9.3 | 2.34 AU | 1.36 AU | 172.0° | 3.4° |
| (270) Anahita | 11.5 | 2.17 AU | 1.19 AU | 161.1° | 8.7° | 16 May 2020 | 11.0 | 2.20 AU | 1.19 AU | 178.5° | 0.7° |
| (71) Niobe | 11.5 | 2.29 AU | 1.77 AU | 107.7° | 25.0° | 21 Aug 2021 | 11.1 | 2.81 AU | 1.80 AU | 172.0° | 2.9° |
| (5) Astraea | 11.5 | 2.12 AU | 2.25 AU | 69.6° | 26.7° | 20 Jun 2021 | 10.7 | 2.81 AU | 1.80 AU | 173.3° | 2.4° |
| (27) Euterpe | 11.5 | 2.38 AU | 1.97 AU | 100.8° | 24.7° | 3 Jul 2021 | 10.4 | 2.74 AU | 1.73 AU | 179.4° | 0.2° |
| (451) Patientia | 11.5 | 3.29 AU | 2.29 AU | 167.2° | 3.9° | 24 May 2020 | 11.5 | 3.29 AU | 2.29 AU | 170.2° | 3.0° |
| (68) Leto | 11.6 | 2.29 AU | 2.31 AU | 75.9° | 25.5° | 30 Sep 2020 | 9.5 | 2.28 AU | 1.29 AU | 171.5° | 3.7° |
| (14) Irene | 11.6 | 2.73 AU | 3.74 AU | 3.9° | 1.4° | 24 Jan 2021 | 9.2 | 2.32 AU | 1.34 AU | 170.1° | 4.2° |
| (89) Julia | 11.7 | 2.87 AU | 2.16 AU | 125.7° | 16.7° | 17 Apr 2020 | 11.2 | 2.93 AU | 1.98 AU | 156.4° | 7.9° |
| (654) Zelinda | 11.7 | 2.40 AU | 1.42 AU | 163.3° | 7.0° | 28 May 2020 | 11.7 | 2.39 AU | 1.41 AU | 163.4° | 7.0° |
| (20) Massalia | 11.7 | 2.68 AU | 2.44 AU | 92.1° | 22.2° | 29 Aug 2020 | 9.7 | 2.58 AU | 1.57 AU | 179.1° | 0.3° |
| (110) Lydia | 11.8 | 2.65 AU | 1.70 AU | 155.9° | 9.0° | 21 Jun 2020 | 11.3 | 2.64 AU | 1.63 AU | 174.6° | 2.1° |
| (10) Hygiea | 11.8 | 3.42 AU | 4.38 AU | 15.5° | 4.6° | 28 Jan 2021 | 9.9 | 3.21 AU | 2.22 AU | 177.4° | 0.8° |
| (19) Fortuna | 11.8 | 2.29 AU | 2.10 AU | 87.5° | 26.2° | 11 Sep 2020 | 9.3 | 2.14 AU | 1.13 AU | 177.9° | 1.0° |
| (471) Papagena | 11.9 | 2.41 AU | 2.70 AU | 62.6° | 22.0° | 26 Oct 2020 | 9.7 | 2.24 AU | 1.28 AU | 159.1° | 9.1° |
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.
