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Asteroid Near-Earth

2005 RB3

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(2005 RB3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.179 AU
True anomaly
160.54°
Distance from Earth
1.599 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 2005 RB3 — 1.179 AU from the Sun 2005 RB3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2005 RB3 is 1.599 AU from Earth today (13.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 48m 16s
Declination
-00° 22′ 55″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.34° — 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
0.878 AU
Eccentricity
0.3937
Inclination
36.11°
Orbital period
300.3 days
Perihelion
0.532 AU
Aphelion
1.223 AU
Longitude of ascending node
165.83°
Argument of periapsis
320.43°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 18.8 LD
0.0482 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.539

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
102
Data arc
18.95 years
First observed
3 September 2005
Last observed
14 August 2024
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 August 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.61

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 142 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2005 RB3 at 2028-03-02 13:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-02 13:49 UTC close approach of 2005 RB3. Catalogue miss distance 165.9 LD · 6.38 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-28 to 2028-03-05, 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. Sun 165.9 LD · 6.38 × 10⁷ km 2028-03-02 13:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-02 13:49 UTC close approach of 2005 RB3. Catalogue miss distance 165.9 LD · 6.38 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-02-28 to 2028-03-05, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-03-02 13:49:00 Earth 0.4262 AU 165.9 LD 27.5 km/s
2028-09-10 14:13:00 Earth 0.1432 AU 55.7 LD 18 km/s
2033-09-05 20:56:00 Earth 0.229 AU 89.1 LD 23.7 km/s
2037-03-24 20:39:00 Earth 0.4119 AU 160.3 LD 26.8 km/s
2037-09-05 04:22:00 Earth 0.3425 AU 133.3 LD 17.5 km/s
2042-02-18 10:26:00 Earth 0.4593 AU 178.7 LD 27.7 km/s
2042-09-10 23:17:00 Earth 0.049 AU 19.1 LD 19.4 km/s
2046-04-15 20:14:00 Earth 0.4625 AU 180.0 LD 26.4 km/s
2047-09-01 18:18:00 Earth 0.3679 AU 143.2 LD 27.2 km/s
2051-03-12 02:17:00 Earth 0.4129 AU 160.7 LD 27.2 km/s

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

Sources