Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12)
Asteroid 90377 Sedna is a large and extremely distant trans-Neptunian object with an orbit that takes it out to over 900 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. It was discovered on November 14, 2003, by a team of astronomers led by Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of Gemini Observatory, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University. The asteroid is named after Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the sea and marine animals. Asteroid 90377 Sedna has a highly elliptical orbit that takes it from a perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) of about 76 astronomical units (AU) to an aphelion (farthest distance from the Sun) of about 937 AU. Its orbital period is estimated to be around 11,400 years. Sedna's orbit is unusual and it is considered to be one of the most distant objects in the solar system, with some scientists considering it a member of the hypothetical Oort cloud, a spherical cloud of icy objects located beyond the orbit of Neptune thought to be the source of many long-period comets.
Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) is currently in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 12,629,922,019 kilometers from Earth.
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Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- 90377 Sedna is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom.
- Right now it is placed in the East-North-East direction at an altitude of 0° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 90377 Sedna is visible only through long exposure photography.
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Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) Position and Finder Charts
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
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Also check out Where is Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) Distance from Earth
The distance of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) from Earth is currently 12,629,922,019 kilometers, equivalent to 84.425814 Astronomical Units. Light takes 11 hours, 42 minutes and 8.8851 seconds to travel from Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 90377 Sedna from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) to Earth
Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) to Earth happens on Tue Dec 29 2076 at a distance of 75.217298 Astronomical Units, or 11,252,347,695 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12), according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
Element | Symbol | Value |
---|---|---|
Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.85650695 |
Orbit inclination | i | 11.93034000° |
Perihelion distance | q | 76.38227795 AU 11,426,626,164 km |
Aphelion distance | Q |
988.23066284 AU 147,837,203,218 km |
Semi-major axis | a |
532.30647040 AU 79,631,914,691 km |
Orbital period | period |
12,281.4832 years 4,485,811.7555 days |
Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2075-May-15 01:52:31 2,479,072.5781 JD |
Argument of perihelion | peri | 310.86879009292° |
Longitude of the ascending node | node | 144.25847763982° |
Mean anomaly | M | 358.46940787854° |
Mean motion | n | 0.00008025°/day |
Visualization of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
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Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 May 01 | 04h 00m 09s | +08° 36’ 14” | 20.83 | Taurus |
2024 May 02 | 04h 00m 11s | +08° 36’ 25” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 03 | 04h 00m 15s | +08° 36’ 38” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 04 | 04h 00m 17s | +08° 36’ 50” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 05 | 04h 00m 20s | +08° 37’ 01” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 06 | 04h 00m 24s | +08° 37’ 13” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 07 | 04h 00m 27s | +08° 37’ 24” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 08 | 04h 00m 29s | +08° 37’ 36” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 09 | 04h 00m 33s | +08° 37’ 48” | 20.82 | Taurus |
2024 May 10 | 04h 00m 35s | +08° 37’ 59” | 20.81 | Taurus |
2024 May 11 | 04h 00m 38s | +08° 38’ 09” | 20.81 | Taurus |
2024 May 12 | 04h 00m 42s | +08° 38’ 21” | 20.81 | Taurus |
2024 May 13 | 04h 00m 45s | +08° 38’ 31” | 20.81 | Taurus |
2024 May 14 | 04h 00m 47s | +08° 38’ 43” | 20.81 | Taurus |