Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2019 VY3

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2019 VY3)

2019 VY3 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.96 AU to 1.11 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 384.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.984 AU
True anomaly
48.31°
Distance from Earth
1.754 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2019 VY3 — 0.984 AU from the Sun 2019 VY3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2019 VY3 is 1.754 AU from Earth today (14.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 23m 55s
Declination
-28° 19′ 12″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.32° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
1.034 AU
Eccentricity
0.0692
Inclination
17.13°
Orbital period
384.2 days
Perihelion
0.963 AU
Aphelion
1.106 AU
Longitude of ascending node
53.29°
Argument of periapsis
174.95°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 18.4 LD
0.0474 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.881

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
38
Data arc
396 days
First observed
19 November 2018
Last observed
20 December 2019
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.7

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 88 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2019 VY3 at 2038-04-06 05:47 UTC Sun 156.8 LD · 6.03 × 10⁷ km 2038-04-06 05:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-04-06 05:47 UTC close approach of 2019 VY3. Catalogue miss distance 156.8 LD · 6.03 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-04-03 to 2038-04-09, 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
2038-04-06 05:47:00 Earth 0.4028 AU 156.8 LD 15.1 km/s
2038-12-07 13:14:00 Earth 0.2468 AU 96.0 LD 9.9 km/s
2039-05-05 07:12:00 Earth 0.1037 AU 40.4 LD 9.7 km/s
2039-11-13 07:24:00 Earth 0.1189 AU 46.3 LD 9 km/s
2040-06-04 11:13:00 Earth 0.2152 AU 83.7 LD 10.9 km/s
2040-10-19 01:17:00 Earth 0.2972 AU 115.6 LD 10.7 km/s
2058-12-19 12:24:00 Earth 0.3245 AU 126.3 LD 10.7 km/s
2059-04-24 21:48:00 Earth 0.2059 AU 80.1 LD 11.1 km/s
2059-11-21 09:27:00 Earth 0.13 AU 50.6 LD 9.1 km/s
2060-05-24 04:35:00 Earth 0.1136 AU 44.2 LD 9.7 km/s

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

Sources