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Uncommon neo 25 EP

(194386) 2001 VG5

Position computed live · sbdb

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Live ephemeris

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
25 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Crosses Earth's orbit +8
  • Near-Earth object +5
  • Tiny fragment (<1 km) +4
  • Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit +4
  • Stony asteroid +4
  • Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 25

9 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Near-Earth object · +5
  • Tiny fragment (<1 km) · +4
  • Crosses Earth's orbit · +8
  • Catalogue designation only
  • Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit · +4
  • Stony asteroid · +4

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 0.89 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Earth.
  • One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 3.5 years.
  • How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.89 and 3.71 AU from the Sun.

Sense of scale

  • Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 8.7 football pitches across.

Standing on it

  • Don't jump. Escape velocity here is only around 0.55 m/s. A determined jump would launch you off it and into your own orbit around the Sun.

By the numbers

  • Size. Roughly 916 metres across.

Properties

albedo
0.353
aphelion au
3.71
designation
194386
diameter km
0.916
eccentricity
0.6138
full name
194386 (2001 VG5)
h mag
16.95
inclination
13.69
mean motion deg day
0.2823
moid au
0.115
name
(194386) 2001 VG5
number only
yes
orbit class
APO
perihelion au
0.889
rotation period h
6.38
semi major au
2.301
spec taxonomy
Sq
spect
Sq

About (194386) 2001 VG5

(194386) 2001 VG5 is an uncommon neo. It has spectral type Sq and swings within 0.889 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.

How to see it

Like any astronomical target, (194386) 2001 VG5 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 (194386) 2001 VG5 is an uncommon neo

(194386) 2001 VG5 scores 25 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 9 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, Catalogue designation only, Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit and Stony asteroid — 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.