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Solar
Dwarf planet candidate

Sedna

(90377) Sedna

Wikipedia ↗

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
82.837 AU
True anomaly
325.72°
Distance from Earth
82.237 AU
As of
2 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 — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Sedna — 82.837 AU from the Sun Sedna
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Sedna is 82.237 AU from Earth today (11.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 09m 19s
Declination
+08° 51′ 52″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
82.23 AU
Elongation from the Sun
127.2° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it's up after dark, 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
543.72 AU
Eccentricity
0.8599
Inclination
11.93°
Orbital period
12,678.6 years
Perihelion
76.185 AU
Aphelion
1,011.254 AU
Longitude of ascending node
144.51°
Argument of periapsis
311.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · TNO
Trans-Neptunian object
Earth MOID · 29,270.9 LD
75.2131 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
10.221

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
671
Data arc
35.43 years
First observed
25 September 1990
Last observed
27 February 2026
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
498 km
Rotation period
10.27 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.32
Absolute magnitude (H)
1.83
Representative colour
#A0383E

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Brown, M. E., Trujillo, C. A., Rabinowitz, D. L.
Discovery date
14 November 2003
Discovery site
Palomar

Sedna is the Inuit goddess of the sea and the mother of all sea creatures. She rewards the people of the land with food from the sea. Without her blessing, hunts fail and the people starve. She is thus one of the most important figures in Inuit legend.

Also known as 90377 · 2003 VB12 · 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12)

Named TNO

Sources