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Centaur

2009 BL80

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(2009 BL80)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.916 AU
True anomaly
136.72°
Distance from Earth
7.717 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 2009 BL80 — 6.916 AU from the Sun 2009 BL80
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2009 BL80 is 7.717 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 25m 23s
Declination
-14° 23′ 25″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
7.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.84° — 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.

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
6.282 AU
Eccentricity
0.6449
Inclination
8.79°
Orbital period
15.74 years
Perihelion
2.231 AU
Aphelion
10.333 AU
Longitude of ascending node
89.1°
Argument of periapsis
11.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 485.6 LD
1.2477 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.488

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
76
Data arc
15.21 years
First observed
24 October 2008
Last observed
8 January 2024
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.54

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2041-09-08 12:13:00 Juptr 0.784 AU 305.1 LD 7.9 km/s
2049-01-19 20:37:00 Satrn 0.8972 AU 349.2 LD 4.2 km/s
2078-04-30 07:56:00 Satrn 0.7604 AU 295.9 LD 4 km/s
2101-02-08 01:16:00 Juptr 0.5522 AU 214.9 LD 8.5 km/s
2107-03-30 01:10:00 Satrn 1.0083 AU 392.4 LD 4 km/s
2152-06-07 12:28:00 Juptr 1.4261 AU 555.0 LD 6.5 km/s
2184-04-17 16:32:00 Juptr 0.371 AU 144.4 LD 10.7 km/s
2184-04-17 16:32:00 Jupiter 0.371 AU 144.4 LD 10.7 km/s

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

Sources