Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2005 CN

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2005 CN)

2005 CN is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.83 AU to 1.2 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 373.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 March 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.866 AU
True anomaly
315.6°
Distance from Earth
1.857 AU
As of
3 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2005 CN — 0.866 AU from the Sun 2005 CN
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2005 CN is 1.857 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 43m 39s
Declination
-16° 57′ 55″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
2.23° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
1.016 AU
Eccentricity
0.1849
Inclination
2.3°
Orbital period
373.8 days
Perihelion
0.828 AU
Aphelion
1.203 AU
Longitude of ascending node
308.1°
Argument of periapsis
321.7°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 11.4 LD
0.0292 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.991

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
73
Data arc
5.68 years
First observed
2 February 2005
Last observed
10 October 2010
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.13

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 107 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2005 CN at 2045-02-28 02:46 UTC Sun 150.9 LD · 5.8 × 10⁷ km 2045-02-28 02:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2045-02-28 02:46 UTC close approach of 2005 CN. Catalogue miss distance 150.9 LD · 5.8 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2045-02-25 to 2045-03-03, 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
2045-02-28 02:46:00 Earth 0.3877 AU 150.9 LD 17.7 km/s
2046-03-06 10:52:00 Earth 0.2424 AU 94.3 LD 13.3 km/s
2047-03-12 10:55:00 Earth 0.0984 AU 38.3 LD 8.9 km/s
2048-03-15 19:34:00 Earth 0.0566 AU 22.0 LD 4.7 km/s
2049-02-05 06:56:00 Earth 0.1668 AU 64.9 LD 4.7 km/s
2049-05-11 13:50:00 Earth 0.1627 AU 63.3 LD 5.2 km/s
2050-01-08 05:59:00 Earth 0.2126 AU 82.7 LD 5.7 km/s
2050-06-17 05:48:00 Earth 0.1893 AU 73.7 LD 6.4 km/s
2050-12-15 06:06:00 Earth 0.2203 AU 85.7 LD 5.8 km/s
2051-07-21 15:30:00 Earth 0.1747 AU 68.0 LD 5.9 km/s

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

Sources