About Arrokoth
Arrokoth is an epic kbo. It swings within 42.486 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
A trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper Belt, out where the Sun is little more than the brightest star in a very dark sky.
Epic kbo 63 EP
Arrokoth
Position computed live · sbdb
📷 Real photo Loading sky survey…
Live ephemeris
This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesEpic 78 pts → Anomaly
- Arrokoth, the farthest world ever visited +30
- Trans-Neptunian object +12
- Notably bright (low H) +8
- Has a proper name +8
- Kuiper-belt object +5
Total score 63
15 more points to reach Anomaly.
Badges
- Kuiper-belt object · +5
- Notably bright (low H) · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Trans-Neptunian object · +12
- Arrokoth, the farthest world ever visited · +30
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. A trans-Neptunian object from the Kuiper Belt, out where the Sun is little more than the brightest star in a very dark sky.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 292 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 42.48 and 45.62 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is roughly 2.5× the height of Mount Everest.
- Walk around it. Walking its equator at a steady pace, eight hours a day, would take about 1.7 days.
By the numbers
- Estimated size. Nobody has measured its size directly. Assuming it reflects light like a typical asteroid, its brightness implies something roughly 21.8 km across.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- aphelion au
- 45.62
- designation
- 486958
- eccentricity
- 0.0356
- full name
- 486958 Arrokoth (2014 MU69)
- h mag
- 11.06
- inclination
- 2.45
- mean motion deg day
- 0.0034
- moid au
- 41.5
- name
- Arrokoth
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- TNO
- perihelion au
- 42.486
- rotation period h
- 15.918
- semi major au
- 44.05
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, Arrokoth 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 Arrokoth is an epic kbo
Arrokoth scores 63 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 15 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Kuiper-belt object, Notably bright (low H), Has a proper name, Trans-Neptunian object and Arrokoth, the farthest world ever visited — 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.