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Asteroid Near-Earth

612970

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612970 (2005 HN3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.142 AU
True anomaly
180.94°
Distance from Earth
2.009 AU
As of
19 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.

Sun Earth — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 612970 — 1.142 AU from the Sun 612970
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 612970 is 2.009 AU from Earth today (16.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 03m 07s
Declination
-17° 53′ 08″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
2.01 AU
Elongation from the Sun
21.36° — 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
0.855 AU
Eccentricity
0.3356
Inclination
7.9°
Orbital period
289 days
Perihelion
0.568 AU
Aphelion
1.143 AU
Longitude of ascending node
59.28°
Argument of periapsis
6.31°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 30.6 LD
0.0787 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.839

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
245
Data arc
19.14 years
First observed
21 April 2005
Last observed
10 June 2024
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 June 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.15

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
21 April 2005
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 2005 HN3

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 230 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 612970 at 2028-01-19 18:11 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-01-19 18:11 UTC close approach of 612970. Catalogue miss distance 141.6 LD · 5.44 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-01-16 to 2028-01-22, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 141.6 LD · 5.44 × 10⁷ km 2028-01-19 18:11 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-01-19 18:11 UTC close approach of 612970. Catalogue miss distance 141.6 LD · 5.44 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-01-16 to 2028-01-22, 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. 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
2028-01-19 18:11:00 Earth 0.3639 AU 141.6 LD 11.4 km/s
2028-06-21 20:30:00 Earth 0.1101 AU 42.9 LD 7.6 km/s
2028-11-13 20:23:00 Venus 0.1345 AU 52.3 LD 17.2 km/s
2031-01-21 00:26:00 Venus 0.0724 AU 28.2 LD 9.2 km/s
2031-12-18 09:02:00 Earth 0.409 AU 159.2 LD 15.4 km/s
2032-07-04 17:54:00 Earth 0.1909 AU 74.3 LD 13.3 km/s
2035-04-21 10:41:00 Earth 0.3295 AU 128.2 LD 18.4 km/s
2035-11-19 20:10:00 Earth 0.4181 AU 162.7 LD 16.2 km/s
2036-06-26 13:43:00 Earth 0.4196 AU 163.3 LD 21.1 km/s
2036-08-09 02:01:00 Venus 0.0898 AU 34.9 LD 8.6 km/s

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

Sources