Asteroid 89 Julia will be well placed, lying in the constellation Auriga, well above the horizon for much of the night.

Regardless of your location on the Earth, 89 Julia will reach its highest point in the sky around midnight local time.

From Cambridge, it will be visible all night. It will become visible at around 17:25 (EST), 26° above your north-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then reach its highest point in the sky at 23:26, 89° above your northern horizon. It will be lost to dawn twilight at around 05:51, 23° above your north-western horizon.

The geometry of the alignment

This optimal positioning occurs when it makes its closest approach to the point in the sky directly opposite to the Sun – an event termed opposition. Since the Sun reaches its greatest distance below the horizon at midnight, the point opposite to it is highest in the sky at the same time.

At around the same time that 89 Julia passes opposition, it also makes its closest approach to the Earth – termed its perigee – making it appear at its brightest in the night sky. This happens because when 89 Julia lies opposite to the Sun in the night sky, the solar system is lined up so that 89 Julia, the Earth and the Sun lie in a straight line with the Earth in the middle, on the same side of the Sun as 89 Julia.

On this occasion, 89 Julia will pass within 1.497 AU of us, reaching a peak brightness of magnitude 9.7. Nonetheless, even at its brightest, 89 Julia is a faint object beyond the reach of the naked eye; binoculars or a telescope of moderate aperture are needed.

Finding 89 Julia

The chart below indicates the path of 89 Julia across the sky around the time of opposition.

It was produced using StarCharter and is available for download, either on dark background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats, or on a light background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats.