About Heracles
Heracles is an uncommon neo. It has spectral type O and swings within 0.42 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
Uncommon neo 25 EP
Heracles
Position computed live · sbdb
Loading sky survey…
Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Crosses Earth's orbit +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Near-Earth object +5
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit +4
Total score 25
9 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Crosses Earth's orbit · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit · +4
Trivia
What makes it special
- It crosses our path. Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.42 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Venus.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 2.5 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.42 and 3.25 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is roughly 0.5× the height of Mount Everest.
Standing on it
- Sunlight there. At closest approach the Sun beats down about 5.7 times harder than it ever does on Earth.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 4.8 km across.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.227
- aphelion au
- 3.25
- designation
- 5143
- diameter km
- 4.843
- eccentricity
- 0.7713
- full name
- 5143 Heracles (1991 VL)
- h mag
- 14.04
- inclination
- 8.98
- mean motion deg day
- 0.3966
- moid au
- 0.0575
- name
- Heracles
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- APO
- perihelion au
- 0.42
- rotation period h
- 2.7063
- semi major au
- 1.835
- spec taxonomy
- O
- spect
- O
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Heracles is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why Heracles is an uncommon neo
Heracles scores 25 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Near-Earth object, Crosses Earth's orbit, Has a proper name and Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.