About Beowulf
Beowulf is a rare neo. It swings within 0.616 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
Rare neo 39 EP
Beowulf
Position computed live · sbdb
Loading sky survey…
Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 6 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Brilliantly reflective surface +10
- Crosses Earth's orbit +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Near-Earth object +5
- Tiny fragment (<1 km) +4
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit +4
Total score 39
11 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Tiny fragment (<1 km) · +4
- Crosses Earth's orbit · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit · +4
- Brilliantly reflective surface · +10
Trivia
What makes it special
- It crosses our path. Its orbit genuinely intersects Earth's track around the Sun. The two paths cross; only the timing keeps them apart.
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.62 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Venus.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 1.7 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.62 and 2.22 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 6.1 football pitches across.
Standing on it
- Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 0.39 m/s. A determined jump would launch you off it and into your own orbit around the Sun.
By the numbers
- Size. Roughly 643 metres across.
Properties
- albedo
- 0.469
- aphelion au
- 2.22
- designation
- 38086
- diameter km
- 0.643
- eccentricity
- 0.5663
- full name
- 38086 Beowulf (1999 JB)
- h mag
- 17.36
- inclination
- 23.67
- mean motion deg day
- 0.5824
- moid au
- 0.386
- name
- Beowulf
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- APO
- perihelion au
- 0.616
- rotation period h
- 2.4104
- semi major au
- 1.42
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Beowulf is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why Beowulf is a rare neo
Beowulf scores 39 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 6 science badges — Near-Earth object, Tiny fragment (<1 km), Crosses Earth's orbit, Has a proper name, Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit and Brilliantly reflective surface — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.