About 2001 VB
2001 VB is an uncommon neo. It swings within 0.239 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
Uncommon neo 31 EP
2001 VB
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 5 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Potentially hazardous +12
- Wildly elliptical orbit +10
- Near-Earth object +5
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit +4
- Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 31
3 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Potentially hazardous · +12
- Wildly elliptical orbit · +10
- Catalogue designation only
- Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit · +4
Trivia
Handle with care
- What 'hazardous' means. 'Potentially hazardous' is bookkeeping, not a prediction: it means the orbit passes within 0.05 AU of Earth's and the body is big enough to matter. Nothing on that list is known to be on a collision course.
- If it ever hit. A rock this size arriving at a typical 20 km/s would release around 26.6 thousand megatons — enough to devastate a region the size of a small country.
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 0.24 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Mercury.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 3.7 years.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.24 and 4.55 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 7.1 football pitches across.
Standing on it
- Sunlight there. At closest approach the Sun beats down about 17.5 times harder than it ever does on Earth.
Properties
- aphelion au
- 4.55
- designation
- 2001 VB
- eccentricity
- 0.9002
- full name
- (2001 VB)
- h mag
- 18.4
- inclination
- 9.53
- mean motion deg day
- 0.2664
- moid au
- 0.0225
- name
- 2001 VB
- number only
- yes
- orbit class
- APO
- perihelion au
- 0.239
- pha
- yes
- semi major au
- 2.392
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, 2001 VB 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 2001 VB is an uncommon neo
2001 VB scores 31 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Near-Earth object, Potentially hazardous, Wildly elliptical orbit, Catalogue designation only and Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit — 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.