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Asteroid Near-Earth

Taranis

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5370 Taranis (1986 RA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.33 AU
True anomaly
188.44°
Distance from Earth
6.211 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 Taranis — 5.33 AU from the Sun Taranis
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Taranis is 6.211 AU from Earth today (51.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 29m 02s
Declination
+00° 12′ 19″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
6.21 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.34° — 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.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

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
3.318 AU
Eccentricity
0.6372
Inclination
19.18°
Orbital period
6.04 years
Perihelion
1.204 AU
Aphelion
5.432 AU
Longitude of ascending node
177.77°
Argument of periapsis
161.27°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 82.1 LD
0.211 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.731

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
362
Data arc
39.53 years
First observed
11 August 1986
Last observed
19 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.61 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 February 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.80 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.037
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.23

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Maury, A.
Discovery date
2 September 1986
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 5370 · 1986 RA

Amor Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 1 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Taranis at 2099-09-10 06:10 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2099-09-10 06:10 UTC close approach of Taranis. Catalogue miss distance 51.6 LD · 1.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2099-09-07 to 2099-09-13, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 51.6 LD · 1.98 × 10⁷ km 2099-09-10 06:10 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2099-09-10 06:10 UTC close approach of Taranis. Catalogue miss distance 51.6 LD · 1.98 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2099-09-07 to 2099-09-13, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2099-09-10 06:10:00 Earth 0.1325 AU 51.6 LD 13.2 km/s

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

Sources