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Centaur

306173

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306173 (2010 NK83)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.753 AU
True anomaly
86.14°
Distance from Earth
4.648 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 306173 — 3.753 AU from the Sun 306173
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 306173 is 4.648 AU from Earth today (38.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 01m 25s
Declination
+09° 04′ 17″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
4.65 AU
Elongation from the Sun
23.82° — 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
5.916 AU
Eccentricity
0.5836
Inclination
11.32°
Orbital period
14.39 years
Perihelion
2.463 AU
Aphelion
9.368 AU
Longitude of ascending node
103.16°
Argument of periapsis
341.8°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 576.6 LD
1.4816 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.578

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
730
Data arc
28.11 years
First observed
24 February 1998
Last observed
5 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 June 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
9 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.64

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
WISE
Discovery date
1 July 2010
Discovery site
WISE

Also known as 2010 NK83 · 2010 TM175

Centaur

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2041-09-16 14:54:00 Juptr 1.952 AU 759.7 LD 12.3 km/s
2047-01-16 15:33:00 Satrn 0.819 AU 318.7 LD 3.1 km/s
2077-01-07 05:45:00 Satrn 0.9918 AU 386.0 LD 3.5 km/s
2081-03-21 20:48:00 Juptr 1.1685 AU 454.7 LD 6 km/s
2106-04-20 08:16:00 Satrn 1.1412 AU 444.1 LD 3.9 km/s
2152-03-21 05:18:00 Juptr 1.4096 AU 548.6 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources