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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 7:21 
Transit: 12:14 
Sunset: 17:07
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 1979 XB

Below the horizon.  Rise: 10:21 | Tran: 13:50 | Set: 17:19
Alt: -39.36°   Az: 82.84°   Direction: East

Asteroid 1979 XB is in the constellation of Sculptor, at a distance of 695,849,197.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 17m 34s and the Declination is -25° 51’ 34” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 1979 XB is 25.33 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 1979 XB in Sculptor on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 1979 XB in Sculptor on February, 11 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 1979 XB is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

1979 XB
RA: 23h 16m 13s
Dec: -25° 59’ 49”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 1979 XB. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 1979 XB?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 1979 XB in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 17m 34s
-25° 51’ 34”
15h 53m 57s
15h 11m 31s

J2000

23h 16m 13s
-25° 59’ 49”

Additional Information

Sculptor
25.33

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 1979 XB from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 115.8°
Max altitude: 12.7°
Azimuth: 244.2°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 1979 XB from Earth is currently 695,849,197.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.6514645813 Astronomical Units. Light takes 38m 41.103s to travel from Asteroid 1979 XB and arrive to us.

695,849,197.0
4.6514645813
38m 41.103s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 1979 XB 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.

Chart of the distance of Asteroid 1979 XB from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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 1979 XB from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 1979 XB to Earth happens on Wed Dec 10 2092 at a distance of 0.062426 Astronomical Units, or 9,338,740 kilometers:

Wed Dec 10 2092
9,338,740
0.062426

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 1979 XB, 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.

Chart of the magnitude of Asteroid 1979 XB as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 1979 XB at epoch 13 December 1979 00:00 UTC (JD: 2444221.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.70844951
Orbit inclination i 24.73412122°
Perihelion distance q 0.64959947 AU
97,178,698 km
Aphelion distance Q 3.80657184 AU
569,455,043 km
Semi-major axis a 2.22808566 AU
333,316,871 km
Orbital period period 3.3259 years
1,214.7761 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 1980-Jan-29 04:00:26
2,444,267.6670 JD
Next perihelion transit 1983-May-27 22:38
2,445,482.4431 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 75.579898280515°
Longitude of the ascending node node 86.055503094738°
Mean anomaly M 346.31837437011°
Mean motion n 0.29635090°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 1979 XB
View Asteroid 1979 XB in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 1979 XB computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 04 23h 10m 11s -26° 45’ 56” 25.35 Sculptor
2025 Feb 05 23h 11m 11s -26° 38’ 22” 25.35 Sculptor
2025 Feb 06 23h 12m 12s -26° 30’ 48” 25.34 Sculptor
2025 Feb 07 23h 13m 13s -26° 23’ 16” 25.34 Sculptor
2025 Feb 08 23h 14m 14s -26° 15’ 46” 25.34 Sculptor
2025 Feb 09 23h 15m 15s -26° 08’ 16” 25.33 Sculptor
2025 Feb 10 23h 16m 17s -26° 00’ 48” 25.33 Sculptor
2025 Feb 11 23h 17m 19s -25° 53’ 21” 25.33 Sculptor
2025 Feb 12 23h 18m 21s -25° 45’ 56” 25.32 Sculptor
2025 Feb 13 23h 19m 23s -25° 38’ 31” 25.32 Sculptor
2025 Feb 14 23h 20m 25s -25° 31’ 08” 25.31 Sculptor
2025 Feb 15 23h 21m 27s -25° 23’ 47” 25.31 Sculptor
2025 Feb 16 23h 22m 29s -25° 16’ 27” 25.31 Sculptor
2025 Feb 17 23h 23m 31s -25° 09’ 08” 25.30 Sculptor

Additional Resources