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Centaur

434620

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434620 (2005 VD)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.521 AU
True anomaly
99.09°
Distance from Earth
7.116 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 434620 — 6.521 AU from the Sun 434620
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 434620 is 7.116 AU from Earth today (59.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 20m 41s
Declination
-28° 36′ 30″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
7.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
49.52° — 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
6.692 AU
Eccentricity
0.2547
Inclination
172.2°
Orbital period
17.31 years
Perihelion
4.988 AU
Aphelion
8.397 AU
Longitude of ascending node
174.95°
Argument of periapsis
180.82°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 1,549.7 LD
3.982 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.396

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
186
Data arc
23.5 years
First observed
20 December 2001
Last observed
22 June 2025
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 August 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.18

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Mt. Lemmon Survey
Discovery date
1 November 2005
Discovery site
Mount Lemmon

Also known as 2005 VD

Centaur

Close approaches 33 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2035-06-08 03:26:00 Satrn 1.7304 AU 673.4 LD 20.1 km/s
2037-05-19 00:12:00 Juptr 1.5547 AU 605.0 LD 24.9 km/s
2043-06-06 18:33:00 Juptr 1.1978 AU 466.2 LD 25.2 km/s
2057-12-21 13:38:00 Juptr 0.0445 AU 17.3 LD 29.1 km/s
2057-12-21 13:38:00 Jupiter 0.0445 AU 17.3 LD 29.1 km/s
2067-05-26 06:26:00 Satrn 0.672 AU 261.5 LD 18.4 km/s
2078-09-24 08:17:00 Juptr 1.4744 AU 573.8 LD 25.3 km/s
2093-08-23 07:00:00 Jupiter 0.0773 AU 30.1 LD 28.9 km/s
2093-08-23 07:00:00 Juptr 0.0773 AU 30.1 LD 28.9 km/s
2099-12-17 03:47:00 Satrn 1.884 AU 733.2 LD 18.7 km/s

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

Sources