Asteroid 19 Fortuna was discovered by English astronomer John Russell Hind on August 22, 1852. It is a large main-belt asteroid with a diameter of approximately 200 km and an irregular shape. Fortuna's name comes from the Roman goddess of luck and fortune, and it was named by John Herschel, a British astronomer and son of William Herschel who discovered Uranus. Fortuna has a relatively short rotation period of 6.25 hours, and it orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter with a period of 3.9 years. It has been found to be a somewhat rare type of asteroid known as an S-type asteroid, which suggests a composition of silicate rock and metal.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of asteroid 19 Fortuna in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Asteroid 19 Fortuna
Asteroid 19 Fortuna is in the constellation of Gemini, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 19 Fortuna in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of asteroid 19 Fortuna against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 19 Fortuna from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
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Distance from Earth
The distance of asteroid 19 Fortuna from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 19 Fortuna from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of 19 Fortuna from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1900 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of asteroid 19 Fortuna to Earth happened on Friday 15 October 1982 at a distance of 1.062725 Astronomical Units, or 158,981,460 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of asteroid 19 Fortuna, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of asteroid 19 Fortuna at epoch February, 24 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.15723131 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 1.57340958° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 2.05861586 AU 307,964,550 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
2.82674802 AU 422,875,485 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.44268194 AU 365,420,018 km |
| Orbital period | period |
3.8178 years 1,394.4367 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | November 12, 2024 2,460,627.0094 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | September 6, 2028 2,462,021.4461 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 182.54338740356° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 211.03425010505° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 198.25485576423° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.25816876°/day |
Orbit Visualization
The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 19 Fortuna relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of asteroid 19 Fortuna. The source for this data is the JPL Small-Body Database.
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 200 km | 0.0157 |
| Sideral Rotation | 7.4432 hours | 0.3110 |
| Absolute Magnitude | 7.13 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.037 |
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of asteroid 19 Fortuna computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 10 2025 | 07h 32m 23s | +20° 38’ 39” | 12.07 | Gemini |
| Jul 11 2025 | 07h 34m 26s | +20° 33’ 59” | 12.06 | Gemini |
| Jul 12 2025 | 07h 36m 30s | +20° 29’ 13” | 12.04 | Gemini |
| Jul 13 2025 | 07h 38m 33s | +20° 24’ 21” | 12.03 | Gemini |
| Jul 14 2025 | 07h 40m 37s | +20° 19’ 24” | 12.01 | Gemini |
| Jul 15 2025 | 07h 42m 40s | +20° 14’ 22” | 12.00 | Gemini |
| Jul 16 2025 | 07h 44m 41s | +20° 09’ 14” | 11.98 | Gemini |
| Jul 17 2025 | 07h 46m 44s | +20° 04’ 02” | 11.98 | Gemini |
| Jul 18 2025 | 07h 48m 46s | +19° 58’ 43” | 11.98 | Gemini |
| Jul 19 2025 | 07h 50m 48s | +19° 53’ 20” | 11.99 | Gemini |
| Jul 20 2025 | 07h 52m 49s | +19° 47’ 51” | 12.01 | Gemini |
| Jul 21 2025 | 07h 54m 51s | +19° 42’ 18” | 12.03 | Gemini |
| Jul 22 2025 | 07h 56m 52s | +19° 36’ 39” | 12.05 | Gemini |
| Jul 23 2025 | 07h 58m 52s | +19° 30’ 55” | 12.07 | Cancer |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Asteroid 19 Fortuna: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is asteroid 19 Fortuna?: Key information on where to find asteroid 19 Fortuna in the sky.
- Distance of asteroid 19 Fortuna from Earth: Find out how far asteroid 19 Fortuna is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is asteroid 19 Fortuna?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of asteroid 19 Fortuna from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of asteroid 19 Fortuna's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of asteroid 19 Fortuna's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days asteroid 19 Fortuna's computed ephemeris.
- Orbital elements: Information about asteroid 19 Fortuna orbital parameters.
- Orbit Visualization: 3D interactive visualization showing the orbit of asteroid 19 Fortuna with respect to the major Solar System objects.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of asteroid 19 Fortuna.