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Asteroid Near-Earth

2005 BU

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(2005 BU)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.888 AU
True anomaly
116.08°
Distance from Earth
1.031 AU
As of
19 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 2005 BU — 0.888 AU from the Sun 2005 BU
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2005 BU is 1.031 AU from Earth today (8.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 33m 57s
Declination
+13° 59′ 53″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
52.05° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
0.847 AU
Eccentricity
0.3006
Inclination
12.99°
Orbital period
284.8 days
Perihelion
0.593 AU
Aphelion
1.102 AU
Longitude of ascending node
296.75°
Argument of periapsis
38.91°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 5.7 LD
0.0147 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.892

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
32
Data arc
2 days
First observed
16 January 2005
Last observed
18 January 2005
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 141 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2005 BU at 2029-10-30 08:18 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-30 08:18 UTC close approach of 2005 BU. Catalogue miss distance 146.1 LD · 5.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-27 to 2029-11-02, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 146.1 LD · 5.62 × 10⁷ km 2029-10-30 08:18 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-30 08:18 UTC close approach of 2005 BU. Catalogue miss distance 146.1 LD · 5.62 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-27 to 2029-11-02, 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 north 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
2029-10-30 08:18:00 Earth 0.3754 AU 146.1 LD 8.9 km/s
2030-03-07 12:39:00 Earth 0.2123 AU 82.6 LD 8.1 km/s
2032-10-22 22:04:00 Venus 0.1288 AU 50.1 LD 12.7 km/s
2033-01-20 20:27:00 Earth 0.3528 AU 137.3 LD 20.2 km/s
2033-08-13 09:01:00 Earth 0.4215 AU 164.0 LD 16.1 km/s
2036-02-11 09:11:00 Venus 0.1459 AU 56.8 LD 12.4 km/s
2037-02-13 03:53:00 Earth 0.1803 AU 70.2 LD 8.4 km/s
2037-05-24 11:39:00 Earth 0.29 AU 112.9 LD 8.4 km/s
2040-01-25 15:34:00 Earth 0.4569 AU 177.8 LD 23.5 km/s
2040-08-25 00:32:00 Earth 0.43 AU 167.3 LD 16.1 km/s

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

Sources