Asteroid 1566 Icarus is a near-Earth asteroid discovered on June 27, 1949, by Walter Baade, an astronomer at the Palomar Observatory in California. The asteroid is named after the mythological figure Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and fell into the sea. With a diameter of approximately 1.4 kilometers, Icarus is one of the largest and best-studied near-Earth asteroids. It has a highly eccentric orbit, with a closest approach to the Sun of just 0.19 astronomical units (AU) and a farthest distance of 1.97 AU. Icarus is also notable for its frequent close approaches to Earth, with the asteroid passing within 0.042 AU (6.3 million kilometers) of our planet in 1968 and again in 2015.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of asteroid 1566 Icarus in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Asteroid 1566 Icarus
Asteroid 1566 Icarus is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 1566 Icarus 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 1566 Icarus 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 1566 Icarus from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Distance from Earth
The distance of asteroid 1566 Icarus from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 1566 Icarus 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 1566 Icarus 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 1566 Icarus to Earth happened on Saturday 15 June 1968 at a distance of 0.042551 Astronomical Units, or 6,365,561 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 1566 Icarus, 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 1566 Icarus at epoch February, 24 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.82686949 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 22.79956293° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.18665665 AU 27,923,438 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
1.96959701 AU 294,647,520 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
1.07812683 AU 161,285,479 km |
| Orbital period | period |
1.1195 years 408.8869 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | March 5, 2023 2,460,008.9638 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | April 17, 2024 2,460,417.8507 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 31.441774561579° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 87.951654802505° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 352.54816273589° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.88043904°/day |
Orbit Visualization
The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 1566 Icarus relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of asteroid 1566 Icarus 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 | 11h 58m 19s | +06° 45’ 28” | 17.66 | Virgo |
| Jul 11 2025 | 12h 07m 38s | +05° 12’ 00” | 17.66 | Virgo |
| Jul 12 2025 | 12h 16m 35s | +03° 41’ 24” | 17.65 | Virgo |
| Jul 13 2025 | 12h 25m 08s | +02° 13’ 56” | 17.66 | Virgo |
| Jul 14 2025 | 12h 33m 20s | +00° 49’ 49” | 17.67 | Virgo |
| Jul 15 2025 | 12h 41m 10s | -00° 30’ 46” | 17.69 | Virgo |
| Jul 16 2025 | 12h 48m 40s | -01° 47’ 49” | 17.71 | Virgo |
| Jul 17 2025 | 12h 55m 52s | -03° 01’ 19” | 17.74 | Virgo |
| Jul 18 2025 | 13h 02m 44s | -04° 11’ 18” | 17.77 | Virgo |
| Jul 19 2025 | 13h 09m 19s | -05° 17’ 49” | 17.80 | Virgo |
| Jul 20 2025 | 13h 15m 37s | -06° 21’ 00” | 17.84 | Virgo |
| Jul 21 2025 | 13h 21m 40s | -07° 20’ 59” | 17.88 | Virgo |
| Jul 22 2025 | 13h 27m 27s | -08° 17’ 53” | 17.92 | Virgo |
| Jul 23 2025 | 13h 33m 01s | -09° 11’ 52” | 17.97 | Virgo |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Asteroid 1566 Icarus: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is asteroid 1566 Icarus?: Key information on where to find asteroid 1566 Icarus in the sky.
- Distance of asteroid 1566 Icarus from Earth: Find out how far asteroid 1566 Icarus is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is asteroid 1566 Icarus?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of asteroid 1566 Icarus from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of asteroid 1566 Icarus's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of asteroid 1566 Icarus's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days asteroid 1566 Icarus's computed ephemeris.
- Orbital elements: Information about asteroid 1566 Icarus orbital parameters.
- Orbit Visualization: 3D interactive visualization showing the orbit of asteroid 1566 Icarus with respect to the major Solar System objects.