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) Vesta8.12.28 AU2.51 AU65.7°23.1°1 May 20255.72.18 AU1.18 AU168.3°5.4°
(15) Eunomia8.32.29 AU1.32 AU166.2°5.9°13 Dec 20248.22.28 AU1.30 AU169.3°4.6°
(1) Ceres9.22.97 AU3.72 AU35.3°11.0°2 Oct 20257.62.94 AU1.96 AU164.9°5.1°
(14) Irene9.92.48 AU1.52 AU164.1°6.2°2 Jan 20259.62.46 AU1.48 AU175.5°1.8°
(7) Iris10.01.94 AU2.16 AU64.0°27.1°27 Feb 20268.92.49 AU1.51 AU171.0°3.6°
(29) Amphitrite10.32.48 AU1.85 AU119.2°20.2°12 Feb 20259.22.53 AU1.54 AU174.6°2.1°
(2) Pallas10.43.31 AU4.15 AU27.2°7.8°7 Aug 20259.43.40 AU2.50 AU147.7°9.2°
(13) Egeria10.42.41 AU1.50 AU152.0°11.0°2 Dec 202410.12.43 AU1.46 AU166.9°5.3°
(39) Laetitia10.72.49 AU2.10 AU101.1°22.8°27 Jan 202610.02.90 AU1.92 AU172.2°2.6°
(79) Eurynome10.72.14 AU1.23 AU150.2°13.2°13 Jan 202510.22.18 AU1.21 AU171.6°3.8°
(11) Parthenope10.72.47 AU1.68 AU134.3°16.5°13 Nov 20249.82.43 AU1.44 AU172.5°3.1°
(69) Hesperia10.72.52 AU1.57 AU161.9°7.0°11 Dec 202410.62.53 AU1.56 AU166.5°5.2°
(6) Hebe10.72.56 AU3.52 AU10.5°4.0°26 Aug 20257.62.03 AU1.03 AU172.5°3.7°
A861 HC10.82.52 AU1.57 AU161.8°7.0°11 Dec 202410.72.53 AU1.56 AU166.4°5.2°
(20) Massalia11.02.27 AU1.98 AU93.9°25.7°21 Mar 20269.02.29 AU1.29 AU179.4°0.3°
(511) Davida11.02.64 AU2.00 AU120.2°18.8°31 Oct 202410.42.70 AU1.76 AU156.7°8.4°
(887) Alinda11.01.07 AU0.12 AU134.7°40.8°
(532) Herculina11.02.64 AU3.62 AU3.6°1.4°6 Aug 202510.23.04 AU2.04 AU168.9°3.7°
A858 BA11.02.30 AU1.41 AU147.1°13.4°14 Jan 202510.62.29 AU1.32 AU164.7°6.5°
(28) Bellona11.12.37 AU1.59 AU131.8°18.0°31 Jan 202510.02.36 AU1.38 AU176.5°1.5°
(51) Nemausa11.12.31 AU1.42 AU147.1°13.4°14 Jan 202510.62.29 AU1.33 AU164.7°6.5°
(116) Sirona11.12.59 AU1.61 AU176.1°1.5°19 Dec 202411.12.59 AU1.61 AU177.6°0.9°
(8) Flora11.12.30 AU2.02 AU93.7°25.3°12 Mar 20259.72.42 AU1.43 AU171.2°3.6°
(19) Fortuna11.12.07 AU1.50 AU111.1°26.4°12 Mar 202610.92.70 AU1.71 AU178.3°0.6°
(12) Victoria11.21.85 AU2.82 AU7.5°4.0°5 Nov 20259.82.29 AU1.30 AU176.8°1.4°
(40) Harmonia11.32.17 AU2.59 AU54.4°21.7°2 Jan 20269.02.28 AU1.29 AU179.0°0.4°
(26) Proserpina11.32.86 AU1.88 AU176.2°1.3°21 Dec 202411.32.86 AU1.88 AU176.2°1.3°
(247) Eukrate11.42.14 AU1.32 AU136.7°18.3°22 Dec 202411.42.14 AU1.32 AU136.7°18.3°
(3) Juno11.43.26 AU3.88 AU45.1°12.3°14 May 202510.13.35 AU2.37 AU163.3°5.0°
(36) Atalante11.42.08 AU1.20 AU145.0°15.7°31 Dec 202411.42.11 AU1.21 AU147.5°14.5°
(675) Ludmilla11.52.35 AU1.44 AU151.8°11.4°12 Jan 202511.12.39 AU1.41 AU171.6°3.4°
A885 EB11.52.15 AU1.32 AU136.7°18.3°22 Dec 202411.52.15 AU1.32 AU136.7°18.3°
(10) Hygiea11.53.47 AU2.97 AU112.1°15.2°21 Dec 202510.33.41 AU2.43 AU178.4°0.5°
(16) Psyche11.62.58 AU2.97 AU57.7°18.8°7 Dec 20259.72.67 AU1.69 AU175.2°1.8°
(354) Eleonora11.62.60 AU3.11 AU50.8°17.0°19 May 202510.32.77 AU1.83 AU151.9°9.9°
(89) Julia11.62.58 AU3.51 AU15.2°5.7°10 Aug 20258.52.15 AU1.14 AU176.1°1.8°
(18) Melpomene11.62.68 AU2.62 AU82.8°21.3°24 Mar 202510.12.77 AU1.78 AU171.2°3.2°
(679) Pax11.62.11 AU1.15 AU162.6°8.0°22 Dec 202411.62.11 AU1.15 AU162.7°8.0°
(88) Thisbe11.63.10 AU2.12 AU171.7°2.6°28 Dec 202411.43.11 AU2.12 AU179.8°0.1°
(9) Metis11.72.52 AU2.96 AU54.5°18.6°8 May 20259.72.64 AU1.63 AU176.7°1.3°
(1036) Ganymed11.71.62 AU1.00 AU109.8°34.8°14 Feb 202614.93.71 AU2.85 AU146.3°8.5°
(129) Antigone11.82.26 AU3.17 AU18.4°7.9°5 Aug 202510.02.53 AU1.51 AU179.0°0.4°
(63) Ausonia11.92.14 AU2.99 AU25.4°11.4°2 Aug 20259.32.14 AU1.12 AU174.9°2.4°
(77) Frigga11.92.38 AU1.43 AU158.8°8.6°7 Jan 202511.52.39 AU1.41 AU176.0°1.6°
(471) Papagena11.92.69 AU3.47 AU32.3°11.3°10 Nov 20259.12.23 AU1.26 AU164.1°7.0°


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.