Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

Nut

Add to an observing list or journal →

306367 Nut (5025 P-L)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.413 AU
True anomaly
181.9°
Distance from Earth
3.966 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 Nut — 4.413 AU from the Sun Nut
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Nut is 3.966 AU from Earth today (33.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 46m 41s
Declination
-19° 47′ 22″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
3.98 AU
Elongation from the Sun
109.61° — well clear of the Sun

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
2.539 AU
Eccentricity
0.7408
Inclination
3.77°
Orbital period
4.05 years
Perihelion
0.658 AU
Aphelion
4.42 AU
Longitude of ascending node
346.21°
Argument of periapsis
152.85°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 20.2 LD
0.052 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.986

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
234
Data arc
64.8 years
First observed
22 October 1960
Last observed
11 August 2025
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.68

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.
Discovery date
22 October 1960
Discovery site
Palomar

Nut was a goddess of the heavens in the old Egyptian religion. With Geb, the god of Earth, she gave birth to the god Osiris.

Also known as 306367 · 5025 P-L

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 21 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Nut at 2052-11-21 23:03 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-11-21 23:03 UTC close approach of Nut. Catalogue miss distance 29.1 LD · 1.12 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-11-18 to 2052-11-24, 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 19 Nov 24 Nov 29.1 LD · 1.12 × 10⁷ km 2052-11-21 23:03 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-11-21 23:03 UTC close approach of Nut. Catalogue miss distance 29.1 LD · 1.12 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-11-18 to 2052-11-24, 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
2052-11-21 23:03:00 Earth 0.0748 AU 29.1 LD 21 km/s
2065-03-19 10:40:00 Venus 0.0777 AU 30.2 LD 17.8 km/s
2069-05-03 18:18:00 Earth 0.099 AU 38.5 LD 22.4 km/s
2085-05-07 23:50:00 Venus 0.1161 AU 45.2 LD 21.4 km/s
2093-07-12 19:48:00 Venus 0.1153 AU 44.9 LD 21.1 km/s
2104-04-24 18:24:00 Juptr 1.9601 AU 762.8 LD 11.3 km/s
2116-03-29 13:05:00 Juptr 1.7158 AU 667.7 LD 10.4 km/s
2125-05-29 18:45:00 Venus 0.0984 AU 38.3 LD 15.5 km/s
2128-02-14 02:46:00 Juptr 1.6622 AU 646.9 LD 10.3 km/s
2137-05-12 03:40:00 Earth 0.0888 AU 34.5 LD 23.5 km/s

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

Sources