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Centaur

2012 CN29

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(2012 CN29)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.581 AU
True anomaly
277.64°
Distance from Earth
5.359 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 2012 CN29 — 5.581 AU from the Sun 2012 CN29
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2012 CN29 is 5.359 AU from Earth today (44.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 53m 02s
Declination
+42° 48′ 56″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
5.35 AU
Elongation from the Sun
98.22° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
6.459 AU
Eccentricity
0.3158
Inclination
20.09°
Orbital period
16.42 years
Perihelion
4.42 AU
Aphelion
8.499 AU
Longitude of ascending node
339.78°
Argument of periapsis
190.94°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 1,334.5 LD
3.429 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.791

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
17
Data arc
67 days
First observed
20 January 2012
Last observed
27 March 2012
Residual RMS
0.79 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.8

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-02-02 09:20:00 Juptr 1.8575 AU 722.9 LD 5.9 km/s
2053-04-19 07:17:00 Satrn 1.5988 AU 622.2 LD 3.5 km/s
2110-08-09 00:55:00 Juptr 0.9728 AU 378.6 LD 6.4 km/s
2192-05-12 17:49:00 Juptr 1.2245 AU 476.5 LD 7.1 km/s
2200-08-29 06:52:00 Satrn 1.4874 AU 578.9 LD 3.8 km/s

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

Sources