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public  Muli, Cina Muli, Cina  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Shanghai
Sunrise: 5:08 
Transit: 12:03 
Sunset: 18:58
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 11:15 | Tran: 17:01 | Set: 22:46
Alt: -4.08°   Az: 94.64°   Direction: East

Asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 165,054,766.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 12h 00m 20s and the Declination is -06° 01’ 03” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) is 23.32.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36)
RA: 11h 59m 01s
Dec: -05° 52’ 32”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

12h 00m 20s
-06° 01’ 03”
17h 54m 27s
05h 54m 47s

J2000

11h 59m 01s
-05° 52’ 32”

Additional Information

Virgo
23.32

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) from Muli, Cina (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Shanghai):

Azimuth: 96.0°
Max altitude: 55.5°
Azimuth: 263.8°

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 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) from Earth is currently 165,054,766.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.1033229633 Astronomical Units. Light takes 9m 10.563s to travel from asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) and arrive to us.

165,054,766.0
1.1033229633
9m 10.563s

The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) to Earth will happen on Thursday 23 September 2060 at a distance of 0.005008 Astronomical Units, or 749,209 kilometers:

Thursday 23 September 2060
749,209
0.005008

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) at epoch December, 31 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455562.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.20374508
Orbit inclination i 6.03494377°
Perihelion distance q 0.89689440 AU
134,173,493 km
Aphelion distance Q 1.35588765 AU
202,837,906 km
Semi-major axis a 1.12639103 AU
168,505,699 km
Orbital period period 1.1955 years
436.6487 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp August 30, 2010
2,455,439.1419 JD
Next perihelion transit November 10, 2011
2,455,875.7907 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 66.223060840843°
Longitude of the ascending node node 2.0608661956964°
Mean anomaly M 101.70395200246°
Mean motion n 0.82446135°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) 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
Jun 29 2025 11h 42m 39s -03° 57’ 08” 23.23 Virgo
Jun 30 2025 11h 45m 09s -04° 14’ 45” 23.24 Virgo
Jul 01 2025 11h 47m 38s -04° 32’ 16” 23.26 Virgo
Jul 02 2025 11h 50m 06s -04° 49’ 44” 23.27 Virgo
Jul 03 2025 11h 52m 35s -05° 07’ 08” 23.28 Virgo
Jul 04 2025 11h 55m 04s -05° 24’ 28” 23.30 Virgo
Jul 05 2025 11h 57m 33s -05° 41’ 45” 23.31 Virgo
Jul 06 2025 12h 00m 01s -05° 58’ 58” 23.32 Virgo
Jul 07 2025 12h 02m 30s -06° 16’ 05” 23.33 Virgo
Jul 08 2025 12h 04m 58s -06° 33’ 10” 23.35 Virgo
Jul 09 2025 12h 07m 28s -06° 50’ 10” 23.36 Virgo
Jul 10 2025 12h 09m 56s -07° 07’ 07” 23.37 Virgo
Jul 11 2025 12h 12m 25s -07° 24’ 00” 23.38 Virgo
Jul 12 2025 12h 14m 53s -07° 40’ 47” 23.39 Virgo

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