488490
Add to an observing list or journal →488490 (2000 AF205)
488490 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.75 AU to 1.32 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 384.5 days. Discovered 8 January 2000 by LINEAR. Orbit from the JPL solution of 16 February 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.102 AU
- True anomaly
- 241.37°
- Distance from Earth
- 2.089 AU
- As of
- 3 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
- 14h 54m 45s
- Declination
- -16° 26′ 58″
- Constellation
- Libra
- Distance from Earth
- 2.08 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 3.81° — too close to the Sun to observe
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
- 1.035 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.277
- Inclination
- 2.41°
- Orbital period
- 384.5 days
- Perihelion
- 0.748 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.321 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 219.89°
- Argument of periapsis
- 127.52°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 7.1 LD
- 0.0182 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.885
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 247
- Data arc
- 21.1 years
- First observed
- 8 January 2000
- Last observed
- 13 February 2021
- Residual RMS
- 0.58 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 16 February 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 21.9
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- LINEAR
- Discovery date
- 8 January 2000
- Discovery site
- Socorro
Also known as 2000 AF205
Close approaches 59 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-05-29 09:00 UTC close approach of 488490. Catalogue miss distance 44.6 LD · 1.71 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-05-26 to 2037-06-01, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2029-03-27 22:35:00 | Venus | 0.0658 AU | 25.6 LD | 5.2 km/s |
| 2036-07-14 14:06:00 | Venus | 0.0914 AU | 35.6 LD | 6.5 km/s |
| 2037-05-29 09:00:00 | Earth | 0.1146 AU | 44.6 LD | 5.4 km/s |
| 2040-12-18 07:36:00 | Earth | 0.0862 AU | 33.5 LD | 11.1 km/s |
| 2057-05-29 04:15:00 | Earth | 0.1191 AU | 46.4 LD | 5.3 km/s |
| 2060-12-18 21:31:00 | Earth | 0.0985 AU | 38.3 LD | 11.5 km/s |
| 2076-05-21 21:56:00 | Earth | 0.1189 AU | 46.3 LD | 12.1 km/s |
| 2076-08-19 09:21:00 | Venus | 0.1347 AU | 52.4 LD | 10.6 km/s |
| 2077-07-11 03:36:00 | Earth | 0.1988 AU | 77.4 LD | 6.3 km/s |
| 2079-12-06 12:07:00 | Earth | 0.1297 AU | 50.5 LD | 4.9 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB