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Asteroid Near-Earth

Nefertiti

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3199 Nefertiti (1982 RA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.624 AU
True anomaly
112.44°
Distance from Earth
2.384 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Nefertiti — 1.624 AU from the Sun Nefertiti
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Nefertiti is 2.384 AU from Earth today (19.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 21m 20s
Declination
+09° 42′ 07″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
2.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.1° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

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Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
1.575 AU
Eccentricity
0.2841
Inclination
32.96°
Orbital period
721.6 days
Perihelion
1.127 AU
Aphelion
2.022 AU
Longitude of ascending node
339.97°
Argument of periapsis
53.45°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 83.8 LD
0.2154 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
4.19

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
4,141
Data arc
42.86 years
First observed
13 September 1982
Last observed
25 July 2025
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 May 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.10 km
Rotation period
3.02 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.42
Absolute magnitude (H)
14.99
Colour index (B–V)
0.9
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.42

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M.
Discovery date
13 September 1982
Discovery site
Palomar

Named for the beautiful consort of the revolutionary pharaoh Akhenaten of the seventeenth dynasty in Egypt. She is generally believed to have had a major influence on radical changes that occurred in the court and religion of Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten.

Also known as 3199 · 1982 RA

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2111-10-21 09:10:00 Mars 0.0905 AU 35.2 LD 12.9 km/s
2151-04-22 15:35:00 Mars 0.0422 AU 16.4 LD 13.3 km/s
2190-10-22 20:17:00 Mars 0.0538 AU 20.9 LD 13.7 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources