2009 VN1 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.83 AU to 1.19 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 370 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.865 AU
- True anomaly
- 44.52°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.204 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 17h 37m 16s
- Declination
- -06° 30′ 48″
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Distance from Earth
- 1.2 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 45.17° — 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.
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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
- 1.009 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1799
- Inclination
- 23.72°
- Orbital period
- 370 days
- Perihelion
- 0.827 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.19 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 230.81°
- Argument of periapsis
- 46.25°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 44.4 LD
- 0.1142 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.952
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 38
- Data arc
- 369 days
- First observed
- 9 November 2009
- Last observed
- 13 November 2010
- Residual RMS
- 0.59 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.2
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 125 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2075-03-28 03:07 UTC close approach of 2009 VN1. Catalogue miss distance 184.5 LD · 7.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2075-03-25 to 2075-03-31, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2053-01-01 07:50:00 | Venus | 0.136 AU | 52.9 LD | 16.3 km/s |
| 2070-03-25 03:31:00 | Venus | 0.1341 AU | 52.2 LD | 16.5 km/s |
| 2075-03-28 03:07:00 | Earth | 0.4741 AU | 184.5 LD | 22.1 km/s |
| 2076-04-01 19:09:00 | Earth | 0.4031 AU | 156.9 LD | 20.3 km/s |
| 2077-04-07 16:10:00 | Earth | 0.334 AU | 130.0 LD | 18.7 km/s |
| 2078-04-13 22:25:00 | Earth | 0.2682 AU | 104.4 LD | 17.2 km/s |
| 2079-04-20 10:17:00 | Earth | 0.2087 AU | 81.2 LD | 16 km/s |
| 2080-04-26 07:10:00 | Earth | 0.1613 AU | 62.8 LD | 15 km/s |
| 2081-05-03 11:09:00 | Earth | 0.1365 AU | 53.1 LD | 14.4 km/s |
| 2081-12-23 22:28:00 | Earth | 0.4467 AU | 173.9 LD | 11.3 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB