66063 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.28 AU to 1.7 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 360.3 days. Discovered 14 September 1998 by LINEAR. Orbit from the JPL solution of 9 July 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.406 AU
- True anomaly
- 156.56°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.831 AU
- As of
- 2 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 17h 54m 46s
- Declination
- -36° 54′ 23″
- Constellation
- Scorpius
- Distance from Earth
- 1.84 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 49.26° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
From your location
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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
- 0.991 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.7201
- Inclination
- 22.69°
- Orbital period
- 360.3 days
- Perihelion
- 0.277 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.704 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 351.83°
- Argument of periapsis
- 151.17°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 35.9 LD
- 0.0922 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.81
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 1,321
- Data arc
- 24.82 years
- First observed
- 12 September 1996
- Last observed
- 7 July 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.43 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 9 July 2021
Physical properties
- Rotation period
- 2.49 hours
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 18.15
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- LINEAR
- Discovery date
- 14 September 1998
- Discovery site
- Socorro
Also known as 1998 RO1 · 1999 SN5
Close approaches 163 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-07-15 17:28 UTC close approach of 66063. Catalogue miss distance 185.7 LD · 7.14 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-07-12 to 2038-07-18, 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. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2029-07-19 06:57:00 | Merc | 0.0794 AU | 30.9 LD | 30.9 km/s |
| 2029-07-19 06:57:00 | Mercury | 0.0794 AU | 30.9 LD | 30.9 km/s |
| 2038-07-15 17:28:00 | Earth | 0.477 AU | 185.7 LD | 32.5 km/s |
| 2039-05-26 20:24:00 | Merc | 0.0756 AU | 29.4 LD | 33.3 km/s |
| 2039-05-26 20:24:00 | Mercury | 0.0756 AU | 29.4 LD | 33.3 km/s |
| 2039-07-12 10:26:00 | Earth | 0.4358 AU | 169.6 LD | 30.1 km/s |
| 2040-07-08 05:10:00 | Earth | 0.4035 AU | 157.0 LD | 27.7 km/s |
| 2041-07-05 02:47:00 | Earth | 0.3833 AU | 149.2 LD | 25.4 km/s |
| 2042-07-02 05:26:00 | Earth | 0.3778 AU | 147.0 LD | 23 km/s |
| 2043-06-29 19:18:00 | Earth | 0.388 AU | 151.0 LD | 20.7 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB