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Asteroid

Lachesis

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120 Lachesis (A872 GB)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.968 AU
True anomaly
353.64°
Distance from Earth
3.951 AU
As of
21 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Lachesis — 2.968 AU from the Sun Lachesis
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lachesis is 3.951 AU from Earth today (32.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 04m 21s
Declination
-17° 14′ 20″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
3.95 AU
Elongation from the Sun
7.44° — too close to the Sun to observe

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
3.12 AU
Eccentricity
0.049
Inclination
6.94°
Orbital period
5.51 years
Perihelion
2.967 AU
Aphelion
3.272 AU
Longitude of ascending node
340.55°
Argument of periapsis
242.83°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · MBA
Main-belt asteroid
Earth MOID · 765.7 LD
1.9675 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.203

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,831
Data arc
154 years
First observed
25 April 1872
Last observed
13 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
78 km
Rotation period
46.55 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.058
Absolute magnitude (H)
7.78
Colour index (B–V)
0.71
Spectral type (SMASS)
C
Spectral type (Tholen)
C
Colour index (U–B)
0.38

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Borrelly, A.
Discovery date
10 April 1872
Discovery site
Marseilles

Also known as 120 · A872 GB · A910 CF · A918 UB

Main-Belt Asteroid Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2034-05-29 17:11:00 Juptr 1.756 AU 683.4 LD 3.2 km/s
2096-04-17 11:35:00 Juptr 1.9292 AU 750.8 LD 3 km/s
2106-05-15 10:28:00 Juptr 1.7402 AU 677.2 LD 2.7 km/s
2116-07-15 13:41:00 Juptr 1.914 AU 744.9 LD 3.9 km/s
2178-05-12 19:10:00 Juptr 1.7915 AU 697.2 LD 2.4 km/s
2188-06-20 01:33:00 Juptr 1.7862 AU 695.1 LD 3.4 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources