168044 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.7 AU to 1.26 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 355 days. Discovered 21 September 2005 by Siding Spring Survey. Orbit from the JPL solution of 13 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.703 AU
- True anomaly
- 1.67°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.679 AU
- As of
- 2 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 14h 35m 27s
- Declination
- -22° 02′ 25″
- Constellation
- Libra
- Distance from Earth
- 1.68 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 6.98° — too close to the Sun to observe
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
From your location
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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
- 0.981 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2833
- Inclination
- 34.83°
- Orbital period
- 355 days
- Perihelion
- 0.703 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.259 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 23.51°
- Argument of periapsis
- 205.52°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 78.4 LD
- 0.2016 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.986
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).
- Observations used
- 347
- Data arc
- 4.06 years
- First observed
- 21 September 2005
- Last observed
- 12 October 2009
- Residual RMS
- 0.52 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 13 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 19.09
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- Siding Spring Survey
- Discovery date
- 21 September 2005
- Discovery site
- Siding Spring
Also known as 2005 SG
Close approaches 142 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-10-10 00:19 UTC close approach of 168044. Catalogue miss distance 183.4 LD · 7.05 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-10-07 to 2037-10-13, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2032-08-15 23:15:00 | Venus | 0.1036 AU | 40.3 LD | 23.4 km/s |
| 2037-10-10 00:19:00 | Earth | 0.4713 AU | 183.4 LD | 24.8 km/s |
| 2038-10-08 14:04:00 | Earth | 0.3478 AU | 135.3 LD | 21.6 km/s |
| 2039-10-09 00:38:00 | Earth | 0.2489 AU | 96.8 LD | 19.3 km/s |
| 2040-10-10 08:19:00 | Earth | 0.2024 AU | 78.8 LD | 17.9 km/s |
| 2041-10-14 06:33:00 | Earth | 0.2275 AU | 88.5 LD | 17.3 km/s |
| 2042-05-15 21:43:00 | Earth | 0.4209 AU | 163.8 LD | 22.6 km/s |
| 2042-10-19 09:07:00 | Earth | 0.2965 AU | 115.4 LD | 17.1 km/s |
| 2043-04-30 02:05:00 | Earth | 0.339 AU | 131.9 LD | 22.7 km/s |
| 2043-10-25 13:16:00 | Earth | 0.3794 AU | 147.6 LD | 17.3 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB