Akhenaten
Add to an observing list or journal →326290 Akhenaten (1998 HE3)
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.09 AU
- True anomaly
- 142.56°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.787 AU
- As of
- 20 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 11h 44m 52s
- Declination
- +03° 52′ 58″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.79 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 32.67° — 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.
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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
- 0.879 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.4401
- Inclination
- 3.38°
- Orbital period
- 301.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.492 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.266 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 53.39°
- Argument of periapsis
- 309.36°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 1.3 LD
- 0.0033 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.655
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 561
- Data arc
- 33.09 years
- First observed
- 13 April 1993
- Last observed
- 16 May 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.41 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 13 October 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 21.81
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- Tucker, R. A.
- Discovery date
- 21 April 1998
- Discovery site
- Goodricke-Pigott
Akhenaten was a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died in 1336 or 1334 BC. He attempted to replace the polytheistic religion of Egypt with a monotheistic worship of the Aten, the visible surface of the Sun.
Also known as 326290 · 1998 HE3
Close approaches 109 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-02-15 10:44 UTC close approach of Akhenaten. Catalogue miss distance 75.0 LD · 2.88 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-02-12 to 2030-02-18, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2030-02-15 10:44:00 | Earth | 0.1926 AU | 75.0 LD | 9.3 km/s |
| 2034-11-28 04:42:00 | Venus | 0.0765 AU | 29.8 LD | 12.1 km/s |
| 2037-05-19 09:59:00 | Venus | 0.0167 AU | 6.5 LD | 16.1 km/s |
| 2039-02-06 17:43:00 | Earth | 0.1997 AU | 77.7 LD | 18.8 km/s |
| 2039-11-08 12:01:00 | Venus | 0.11 AU | 42.8 LD | 21 km/s |
| 2040-05-03 16:34:00 | Earth | 0.1501 AU | 58.4 LD | 9.4 km/s |
| 2044-02-03 20:19:00 | Earth | 0.1144 AU | 44.5 LD | 10 km/s |
| 2045-05-08 09:35:00 | Earth | 0.1224 AU | 47.6 LD | 16.6 km/s |
| 2048-09-25 21:48:00 | Venus | 0.1266 AU | 49.3 LD | 21.8 km/s |
| 2051-03-17 18:17:00 | Venus | 0.033 AU | 12.8 LD | 17.1 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