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Centaur

2023 UB66

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(2023 UB66)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.55 AU
True anomaly
140.37°
Distance from Earth
6.364 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 2023 UB66 — 6.55 AU from the Sun 2023 UB66
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2023 UB66 is 6.364 AU from Earth today (52.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 46m 38s
Declination
-20° 41′ 52″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
6.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
95.65° — well clear of the Sun

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
5.588 AU
Eccentricity
0.6292
Inclination
30.58°
Orbital period
13.21 years
Perihelion
2.072 AU
Aphelion
9.105 AU
Longitude of ascending node
302.75°
Argument of periapsis
220.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 449.9 LD
1.1562 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.318

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
56
Data arc
222 days
First observed
17 October 2023
Last observed
26 May 2024
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 June 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.64

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2079-09-22 03:32:00 Juptr 1.1813 AU 459.7 LD 9.4 km/s
2092-01-28 08:00:00 Juptr 1.9253 AU 749.3 LD 15.6 km/s

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

Sources