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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

250680

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250680 (2005 QC5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.207 AU
True anomaly
190.51°
Distance from Earth
0.787 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 250680 — 1.207 AU from the Sun 250680
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 250680 is 0.787 AU from Earth today (6.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 44m 27s
Declination
-34° 03′ 46″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.79 AU
Elongation from the Sun
84.15° — 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
0.893 AU
Eccentricity
0.3646
Inclination
9.45°
Orbital period
308.2 days
Perihelion
0.567 AU
Aphelion
1.219 AU
Longitude of ascending node
48.05°
Argument of periapsis
108.72°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 18.6 LD
0.0478 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.588

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
129
Data arc
47.81 years
First observed
24 September 1978
Last observed
16 July 2026
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 July 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.20 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.147
Absolute magnitude (H)
19.63

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Siding Spring Survey
Discovery date
26 August 2005
Discovery site
Siding Spring

Also known as 2005 QC5

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 96 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 250680 at 2027-10-27 00:27 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-27 00:27 UTC close approach of 250680. Catalogue miss distance 18.9 LD · 7.27 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-24 to 2027-10-30, 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. Sun 30 Oct 18.9 LD · 7.27 × 10⁶ km 2027-10-27 00:27 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-27 00:27 UTC close approach of 250680. Catalogue miss distance 18.9 LD · 7.27 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-24 to 2027-10-30, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-10-27 00:27:00 Earth 0.0486 AU 18.9 LD 10.9 km/s
2035-07-12 20:27:00 Venus 0.1135 AU 44.2 LD 7.9 km/s
2037-07-01 22:13:00 Earth 0.138 AU 53.7 LD 10.6 km/s
2038-03-29 17:21:00 Venus 0.0746 AU 29.0 LD 15.7 km/s
2038-10-21 20:16:00 Earth 0.1542 AU 60.0 LD 15.4 km/s
2042-04-09 14:04:00 Venus 0.0594 AU 23.1 LD 11.8 km/s
2044-12-29 08:45:00 Venus 0.0317 AU 12.3 LD 12.1 km/s
2048-06-26 14:16:00 Earth 0.1953 AU 76.0 LD 7.1 km/s
2049-01-10 07:49:00 Venus 0.0923 AU 35.9 LD 15.8 km/s
2051-09-23 06:47:00 Venus 0.0997 AU 38.8 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources