About Zeus
Zeus is a rare neo. It swings within 0.787 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.
Rare neo 35 EP
Zeus
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Darker than charcoal +10
- Crosses Earth's orbit +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Near-Earth object +5
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit +4
Total score 35
15 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Crosses Earth's orbit · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit · +4
- Darker than charcoal · +10
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 0.79 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Earth.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 3.4 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.79 and 3.74 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is roughly 0.6× the height of Mount Everest.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 5.2 km across.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.031
- aphelion au
- 3.74
- designation
- 5731
- diameter km
- 5.231
- eccentricity
- 0.6525
- full name
- 5731 Zeus (1988 VP4)
- h mag
- 15.47
- inclination
- 11.2
- mean motion deg day
- 0.2891
- moid au
- 0.0649
- name
- Zeus
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- APO
- perihelion au
- 0.787
- semi major au
- 2.265
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Zeus 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 Zeus is a rare neo
Zeus scores 35 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Near-Earth object, Crosses Earth's orbit, Has a proper name, Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit and Darker than charcoal — 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.