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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:54 
Transit: 12:57 
Sunset: 21:00
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 1979 XB

Below the horizon.  Rise: 5:16 | Tran: 9:45 | Set: 14:14
Alt: -37.66°   Az: 292.31°   Direction: West-North-West

Asteroid 1979 XB is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 599,699,738.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 06m 33s and the Declination is -16° 54’ 32” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 1979 XB is 25.21.

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 1979 XB in Cetus on May, 27 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 1979 XB in Cetus on May, 27 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: 01h 05m 18s
Dec: -17° 02’ 40”
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

01h 06m 33s
-16° 54’ 32”
08h 40m 12s
09h 46m 45s

J2000

01h 05m 18s
-17° 02’ 40”

Additional Information

Cetus
25.21

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: 106.9°
Max altitude: 21.6°
Azimuth: 253.1°

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 599,699,738.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.0087451459 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33m 20.383s to travel from Asteroid 1979 XB and arrive to us.

599,699,738.0
4.0087451459
33m 20.383s

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
2h1>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 May 20 00h 59m 24s -17° 07’ 49” 25.25 Cetus
2025 May 21 01h 00m 21s -17° 05’ 46” 25.25 Cetus
2025 May 22 01h 01m 17s -17° 03’ 48” 25.24 Cetus
2025 May 23 01h 02m 13s -17° 01’ 57” 25.24 Cetus
2025 May 24 01h 03m 09s -17° 00’ 12” 25.23 Cetus
2025 May 25 01h 04m 04s -16° 58’ 32” 25.23 Cetus
2025 May 26 01h 04m 59s -16° 56’ 59” 25.22 Cetus
2025 May 27 01h 05m 54s -16° 55’ 31” 25.22 Cetus
2025 May 28 01h 06m 48s -16° 54’ 10” 25.21 Cetus
2025 May 29 01h 07m 42s -16° 52’ 55” 25.21 Cetus
2025 May 30 01h 08m 36s -16° 51’ 46” 25.20 Cetus
2025 May 31 01h 09m 29s -16° 50’ 45” 25.20 Cetus
2025 Jun 01 01h 10m 22s -16° 49’ 49” 25.19 Cetus
2025 Jun 02 01h 11m 14s -16° 49’ 00” 25.18 Cetus

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