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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

86039

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86039 (1999 NC43)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.76 AU
True anomaly
174.42°
Distance from Earth
3.498 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 86039 — 2.76 AU from the Sun 86039
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 86039 is 3.498 AU from Earth today (29.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 24m 33s
Declination
-23° 53′ 39″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
3.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.1° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
1.76 AU
Eccentricity
0.5788
Inclination
7.13°
Orbital period
852.7 days
Perihelion
0.741 AU
Aphelion
2.778 AU
Longitude of ascending node
311.61°
Argument of periapsis
120.83°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 9.7 LD
0.0248 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.898

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,822
Data arc
26.99 years
First observed
11 June 1999
Last observed
8 June 2026
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.11 km
Rotation period
5.09 days

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.14
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.94
Spectral type (SMASS)
Q

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
14 July 1999
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 1999 NC43

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 15 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 86039 at 2109-09-14 07:17 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2109-09-14 07:17 UTC close approach of 86039. Catalogue miss distance 62.1 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2109-09-11 to 2109-09-17, 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 62.1 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km 2109-09-14 07:17 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2109-09-14 07:17 UTC close approach of 86039. Catalogue miss distance 62.1 LD · 2.39 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2109-09-11 to 2109-09-17, 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
2095-11-08 05:26:00 Venus 0.1436 AU 55.9 LD 16.7 km/s
2107-07-17 10:01:00 Venus 0.1253 AU 48.8 LD 15.8 km/s
2109-09-14 07:17:00 Earth 0.1596 AU 62.1 LD 19.1 km/s
2116-09-18 05:38:00 Earth 0.1123 AU 43.7 LD 17 km/s
2119-03-24 05:10:00 Venus 0.104 AU 40.5 LD 14.8 km/s
2123-09-23 20:30:00 Earth 0.0963 AU 37.5 LD 15 km/s
2130-09-30 08:48:00 Earth 0.1283 AU 49.9 LD 12.8 km/s
2130-11-29 17:01:00 Venus 0.0943 AU 36.7 LD 14.3 km/s
2166-01-31 14:02:00 Earth 0.1225 AU 47.7 LD 12.3 km/s
2173-02-14 17:20:00 Earth 0.0336 AU 13.1 LD 15.8 km/s

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

Sources