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Asteroid Near-Earth

2019 VT3

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(2019 VT3)

2019 VT3 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.9 AU to 1.18 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 387.3 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.153 AU
True anomaly
149.69°
Distance from Earth
1.848 AU
As of
4 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 2019 VT3 — 1.153 AU from the Sun 2019 VT3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2019 VT3 is 1.848 AU from Earth today (15.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 54m 22s
Declination
-26° 56′ 26″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.85 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.09° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
1.04 AU
Eccentricity
0.1319
Inclination
7.81°
Orbital period
387.3 days
Perihelion
0.903 AU
Aphelion
1.177 AU
Longitude of ascending node
40.64°
Argument of periapsis
93.12°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
0.0054 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.882

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
19
Data arc
3 days
First observed
5 November 2019
Last observed
8 November 2019
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.2

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 24 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2019 VT3 at 2036-11-03 20:14 UTC Sun 100.2 LD · 3.85 × 10⁷ km 2036-11-03 20:14 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-11-03 20:14 UTC close approach of 2019 VT3. Catalogue miss distance 100.2 LD · 3.85 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-10-31 to 2036-11-06, 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
2036-11-03 20:14:00 Earth 0.2574 AU 100.2 LD 11.8 km/s
2037-10-27 03:34:00 Earth 0.1192 AU 46.4 LD 4.2 km/s
2038-06-11 16:18:00 Earth 0.184 AU 71.6 LD 3.8 km/s
2039-05-08 19:57:00 Earth 0.1819 AU 70.8 LD 9.7 km/s
2053-10-27 04:31:00 Earth 0.4407 AU 171.5 LD 17.1 km/s
2054-11-10 15:47:00 Earth 0.0666 AU 25.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2055-08-25 02:17:00 Earth 0.2145 AU 83.5 LD 4 km/s
2056-04-28 23:45:00 Earth 0.01 AU 3.9 LD 5.2 km/s
2056-04-30 01:04:00 Moon 0.0093 AU 3.6 LD 5.3 km/s
2057-05-14 00:01:00 Earth 0.3011 AU 117.2 LD 12.9 km/s

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

Sources