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Asteroid Near-Earth

2005 WS3

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(2005 WS3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.057 AU
True anomaly
177.48°
Distance from Earth
0.724 AU
As of
15 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2005 WS3 — 1.057 AU from the Sun 2005 WS3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2005 WS3 is 0.724 AU from Earth today (6.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 42m 09s
Declination
+14° 40′ 29″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.12° — well clear of the Sun

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.

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
0.672 AU
Eccentricity
0.5755
Inclination
23.07°
Orbital period
201 days
Perihelion
0.285 AU
Aphelion
1.058 AU
Longitude of ascending node
69.37°
Argument of periapsis
176.11°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 25.3 LD
0.065 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
8.288

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
167
Data arc
15.96 years
First observed
25 November 2005
Last observed
11 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 March 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.23

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 139 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2005 WS3 at 2026-12-07 00:10 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-07 00:10 UTC close approach of 2005 WS3. Catalogue miss distance 157.6 LD · 6.06 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-04 to 2026-12-10, 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 157.6 LD · 6.06 × 10⁷ km 2026-12-07 00:10 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-12-07 00:10 UTC close approach of 2005 WS3. Catalogue miss distance 157.6 LD · 6.06 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-12-04 to 2026-12-10, 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
2026-12-07 00:10:00 Earth 0.4049 AU 157.6 LD 27.4 km/s
2027-12-03 05:02:00 Earth 0.0679 AU 26.4 LD 14.9 km/s
2028-11-17 13:57:00 Earth 0.3435 AU 133.7 LD 24.3 km/s
2032-12-12 05:09:00 Earth 0.1508 AU 58.7 LD 18.2 km/s
2033-11-16 17:34:00 Earth 0.1592 AU 62.0 LD 17.2 km/s
2037-12-08 05:47:00 Earth 0.3653 AU 142.2 LD 26 km/s
2038-11-30 04:18:00 Earth 0.0743 AU 28.9 LD 14.8 km/s
2039-11-19 13:26:00 Earth 0.3806 AU 148.1 LD 25.7 km/s
2043-12-12 12:23:00 Earth 0.1215 AU 47.3 LD 17.2 km/s
2044-11-15 17:56:00 Earth 0.1849 AU 72.0 LD 18.1 km/s

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

Sources