About 2012 VE46
2012 VE46 is a rare neo. It swings within 0.455 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
An Atira: its entire orbit lies inside Earth's. Only a couple of dozen are known, because they are never in a dark sky when we are.
Rare neo 43 EP
2012 VE46
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 4 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Atira: orbits entirely inside Earth's +26
- Potentially hazardous +12
- Near-Earth object +5
- Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 43
7 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Near-Earth object · +5
- Potentially hazardous · +12
- Catalogue designation only
- Atira: orbits entirely inside Earth's · +26
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 2212 megatons — about 44.2 times the largest bomb ever detonated.
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. An Atira: its entire orbit lies inside Earth's. Only a couple of dozen are known, because they are never in a dark sky when we are.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.46 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Venus.
- One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 220 days.
- How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.46 and 0.97 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
- Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 3.1 football pitches across.
Standing on it
- Sunlight there. At closest approach the Sun beats down about 4.8 times harder than it ever does on Earth.
Properties
- aphelion au
- 0.97
- designation
- 2012 VE46
- eccentricity
- 0.3612
- full name
- (2012 VE46)
- h mag
- 20.2
- inclination
- 6.67
- mean motion deg day
- 1.637
- moid au
- 0.0331
- name
- 2012 VE46
- number only
- yes
- orbit class
- IEO
- perihelion au
- 0.455
- pha
- yes
- semi major au
- 0.713
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, 2012 VE46 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 2012 VE46 is a rare neo
2012 VE46 scores 43 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Near-Earth object, Potentially hazardous, Catalogue designation only and Atira: orbits entirely inside Earth's — 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.