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) Vesta6.12.19 AU1.23 AU156.3°10.6°1 May 20255.72.18 AU1.18 AU168.3°5.4°
(1) Ceres9.32.99 AU3.72 AU37.0°11.7°2 Oct 20257.62.94 AU1.96 AU164.9°5.1°
(7) Iris9.81.84 AU2.78 AU16.3°8.8°27 Feb 20268.92.49 AU1.51 AU171.0°3.6°
(9) Metis10.32.62 AU1.70 AU150.8°10.8°8 May 20259.72.64 AU1.63 AU176.7°1.3°
(2) Pallas10.43.39 AU3.60 AU70.3°16.2°7 Aug 20259.43.40 AU2.50 AU147.7°9.2°
(3) Juno10.53.34 AU2.49 AU142.5°10.5°14 May 202510.13.35 AU2.37 AU163.3°5.0°
(8) Flora10.52.46 AU1.61 AU139.3°15.4°12 Mar 20259.72.42 AU1.43 AU171.2°3.6°
(6) Hebe10.52.31 AU2.46 AU69.5°24.0°25 Aug 20257.62.04 AU1.03 AU172.5°3.7°
(18) Melpomene10.62.78 AU1.86 AU152.4°9.6°24 Mar 202510.12.77 AU1.78 AU171.2°3.2°
(29) Amphitrite10.62.57 AU2.02 AU112.5°21.1°28 May 20269.72.74 AU1.73 AU170.9°3.4°
(15) Eunomia10.62.50 AU2.69 AU68.7°21.9°24 Mar 20269.93.06 AU2.09 AU163.5°5.3°
(354) Eleonora10.62.73 AU1.94 AU132.8°15.7°19 May 202510.32.77 AU1.83 AU151.9°9.9°
(349) Dembowska10.93.14 AU2.24 AU148.6°9.6°11 May 202510.33.13 AU2.12 AU176.0°1.3°
(40) Harmonia10.92.17 AU3.17 AU3.2°1.5°2 Jan 20269.02.28 AU1.29 AU179.0°0.4°
(113) Amalthea11.02.17 AU1.18 AU170.8°4.3°14 Apr 202511.02.17 AU1.18 AU170.8°4.3°
(344) Desiderata11.21.99 AU1.16 AU133.5°21.5°27 May 20259.91.88 AU0.88 AU167.1°6.9°
(389) Industria11.22.44 AU1.45 AU165.4°6.0°9 Apr 202511.22.44 AU1.45 AU166.4°5.6°
(16) Psyche11.22.53 AU3.53 AU6.5°2.6°7 Dec 20259.72.67 AU1.69 AU175.2°1.8°
(89) Julia11.22.35 AU2.36 AU76.8°24.6°10 Aug 20258.52.15 AU1.14 AU176.1°1.8°
(14) Irene11.32.29 AU2.24 AU80.4°25.5°14 Jun 20269.42.45 AU1.43 AU178.8°0.5°
(20) Massalia11.32.12 AU2.95 AU28.2°12.9°21 Mar 20269.02.29 AU1.29 AU179.4°0.3°
(419) Aurelia11.32.12 AU1.17 AU152.9°12.5°7 May 202510.42.07 AU1.06 AU178.8°0.6°
(37) Fides11.32.94 AU1.94 AU176.6°1.1°17 Apr 202511.32.94 AU1.94 AU178.4°0.5°
(71) Niobe11.32.29 AU1.72 AU111.8°24.0°13 Jun 202510.62.34 AU1.42 AU147.7°13.4°
(139) Juewa11.42.33 AU1.40 AU150.6°12.2°20 Mar 202510.62.32 AU1.32 AU179.0°0.4°
(39) Laetitia11.42.58 AU3.40 AU29.4°11.0°27 Jan 202610.02.90 AU1.92 AU172.2°2.6°
(63) Ausonia11.42.09 AU1.95 AU83.4°28.5°2 Aug 20259.32.14 AU1.12 AU174.9°2.4°
(44) Nysa11.42.34 AU3.34 AU4.5°1.9°23 Jan 20268.62.06 AU1.08 AU179.0°0.5°
(5) Astraea11.52.60 AU1.92 AU121.6°19.2°5 Jun 202510.62.69 AU1.69 AU172.1°3.0°
(192) Nausikaa11.52.92 AU1.95 AU161.7°6.2°28 Apr 202511.22.91 AU1.91 AU171.5°2.9°
(471) Papagena11.62.44 AU3.22 AU32.5°12.8°10 Nov 20259.12.23 AU1.26 AU164.1°7.0°
(532) Herculina11.62.85 AU3.00 AU71.9°19.5°6 Aug 202510.23.04 AU2.04 AU168.9°3.7°
(12) Victoria11.61.85 AU2.56 AU36.2°18.7°5 Nov 20259.82.29 AU1.30 AU176.8°1.4°
(451) Patientia11.73.24 AU2.30 AU156.7°7.0°27 Apr 202511.63.25 AU2.27 AU162.7°5.3°
(28) Bellona11.72.39 AU1.95 AU103.7°24.0°30 May 202611.42.94 AU1.95 AU166.2°4.7°
(60) Echo11.72.32 AU1.35 AU159.1°8.9°28 Mar 202511.02.28 AU1.28 AU179.4°0.3°
(68) Leto11.82.27 AU3.18 AU21.2°9.2°20 Nov 202510.02.52 AU1.54 AU176.8°1.3°
(511) Davida11.82.57 AU3.24 AU40.8°14.8°23 Feb 202610.62.88 AU1.92 AU162.1°6.1°
(488) Kreusa11.82.74 AU1.78 AU160.6°7.0°5 Apr 202511.82.73 AU1.76 AU163.4°6.0°
(129) Antigone11.82.33 AU2.33 AU77.7°24.8°5 Aug 202510.02.53 AU1.51 AU179.0°0.4°
(674) Rachele11.92.69 AU1.90 AU133.6°15.7°7 Mar 202511.22.62 AU1.67 AU159.6°7.6°
(72) Feronia11.92.27 AU1.28 AU164.8°6.6°26 Apr 202511.42.25 AU1.25 AU178.2°0.8°


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.