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Asteroid Near-Earth

2025 VU3

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(2025 VU3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.986 AU
True anomaly
103.21°
Distance from Earth
0.217 AU
As of
24 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2025 VU3 — 0.986 AU from the Sun 2025 VU3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2025 VU3 is 0.217 AU from Earth today (1.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 57m 15s
Declination
+24° 05′ 19″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
81.78° — 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
0.975 AU
Eccentricity
0.1646
Inclination
11.6°
Orbital period
351.8 days
Perihelion
0.815 AU
Aphelion
1.136 AU
Longitude of ascending node
231.15°
Argument of periapsis
69.28°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.1 LD
0.0132 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.171

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
20
First observed
14 November 2025
Last observed
14 November 2025
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 November 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.34

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 13 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2025 VU3 at 2028-05-11 12:11 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-11 12:11 UTC close approach of 2025 VU3. Catalogue miss distance 50.8 LD · 1.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-08 to 2028-05-14, 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. Sun 50.8 LD · 1.95 × 10⁷ km 2028-05-11 12:11 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-05-11 12:11 UTC close approach of 2025 VU3. Catalogue miss distance 50.8 LD · 1.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-05-08 to 2028-05-14, 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
2028-05-11 12:11:00 Earth 0.1305 AU 50.8 LD 7.3 km/s
2028-06-03 05:33:00 Venus 0.1392 AU 54.2 LD 9.2 km/s
2029-04-12 19:17:00 Earth 0.1418 AU 55.2 LD 10.4 km/s
2050-07-27 12:00:00 Venus 0.1392 AU 54.2 LD 9.3 km/s
2051-11-11 15:51:00 Earth 0.0139 AU 5.4 LD 7.9 km/s

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

Sources