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.

The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) is 03h 59m 41s and the Declination is +08° 17’ 58” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) is 20.77 (JPL).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12)?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12)?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 90377 Sedna (2003 VB12) with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

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.

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 12,361,210,747 kilometers, equivalent to 82.629590 Astronomical Units. Light takes 11 hours, 27 minutes and 12.5608 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.

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!

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
2023 Nov 27	04h 00m 01s	+08° 18’ 45”	20.76	Taurus
2023 Nov 28	03h 59m 57s	+08° 18’ 38”	20.76	Taurus
2023 Nov 29	03h 59m 56s	+08° 18’ 32”	20.76	Taurus
2023 Nov 30	03h 59m 53s	+08° 18’ 25”	20.77	Taurus
2023 Dec 01	03h 59m 51s	+08° 18’ 20”	20.77	Taurus
2023 Dec 02	03h 59m 48s	+08° 18’ 14”	20.77	Taurus
2023 Dec 03	03h 59m 45s	+08° 18’ 07”	20.77	Taurus
2023 Dec 04	03h 59m 43s	+08° 18’ 02”	20.77	Taurus
2023 Dec 05	03h 59m 40s	+08° 17’ 57”	20.77	Taurus
2023 Dec 06	03h 59m 39s	+08° 17’ 52”	20.77	Taurus
2023 Dec 07	03h 59m 35s	+08° 17’ 47”	20.78	Taurus
2023 Dec 08	03h 59m 34s	+08° 17’ 41”	20.78	Taurus
2023 Dec 09	03h 59m 30s	+08° 17’ 38”	20.78	Taurus
2023 Dec 10	03h 59m 29s	+08° 17’ 33”	20.78	Taurus