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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:06 
Transit: 12:56 
Sunset: 20:47
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 23:49 | Tran: 3:28 | Set: 7:01
Alt: -63.67°   Az: 5.22°   Direction: North

Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 59,248,862.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 18h 08m 16s and the Declination is -25° 13’ 06” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) is 19.20 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) in Sagittarius on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) in Sagittarius on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3)
RA: 18h 06m 42s
Dec: -25° 13’ 23”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

18h 08m 16s
-25° 13’ 06”
12h 10m 13s
06h 18m 29s

J2000

18h 06m 42s
-25° 13’ 23”

Additional Information

Sagittarius
19.20

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 115.2°
Max altitude: 13.2°
Azimuth: 244.7°
  • 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) from Earth is currently 59,248,862.0 kilometers, equivalent to 0.3960541799 Astronomical Units. Light takes 3m 17.633s to travel from Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) and arrive to us.

59,248,862.0
0.3960541799
3m 17.633s

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) 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 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) 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 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) to Earth happens on Sun Dec 6 2076 at a distance of 0.010460 Astronomical Units, or 1,564,794 kilometers:

Sun Dec 6 2076
1,564,794
0.010460

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 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3), 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 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.19108984
Orbit inclination i 5.86617919°
Perihelion distance q 0.96337310 AU
144,118,565 km
Aphelion distance Q 1.41853074 AU
212,209,178 km
Semi-major axis a 1.19095192 AU
178,163,872 km
Orbital period period 1.2997 years
474.7225 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-Aug-12 07:52:53
2,460,168.8284 JD
Next perihelion transit 2024-Nov-29 01:13
2,460,643.5508 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 211.60686871766°
Longitude of the ascending node node 251.30134002236°
Mean anomaly M 232.35020871517°
Mean motion n 0.75833784°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3)
View Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) 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 10 18h 17m 36s -26° 29’ 51” 19.47 Sagittarius
2025 May 11 18h 16m 38s -26° 20’ 26” 19.44 Sagittarius
2025 May 12 18h 15m 36s -26° 10’ 50” 19.40 Sagittarius
2025 May 13 18h 14m 29s -26° 01’ 01” 19.37 Sagittarius
2025 May 14 18h 13m 16s -25° 51’ 00” 19.33 Sagittarius
2025 May 15 18h 11m 59s -25° 40’ 47” 19.29 Sagittarius
2025 May 16 18h 10m 37s -25° 30’ 20” 19.25 Sagittarius
2025 May 17 18h 09m 11s -25° 19’ 42” 19.22 Sagittarius
2025 May 18 18h 07m 39s -25° 08’ 49” 19.18 Sagittarius
2025 May 19 18h 06m 03s -24° 57’ 43” 19.14 Sagittarius
2025 May 20 18h 04m 22s -24° 46’ 24” 19.10 Sagittarius
2025 May 21 18h 02m 38s -24° 34’ 51” 19.06 Sagittarius
2025 May 22 18h 00m 49s -24° 23’ 04” 19.02 Sagittarius
2025 May 23 17h 58m 56s -24° 11’ 03” 18.98 Sagittarius

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