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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:04 
Transit: 13:06 
Sunset: 21:07
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Dwarf Planets and Asteroids » 

Asteroid 288P (2006 VW139)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 13:09 | Tran: 18:37 | Set: 0:05
Alt: -40.56°   Az: 328.97°   Direction: North-North-West

Asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 513,571,902.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 13h 20m 32s and the Declination is -05° 55’ 40” (apparent coordinates). The magnitude of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) is 22.52.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

288P (2006 VW139)
RA: 13h 19m 12s
Dec: -05° 47’ 39”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

13h 20m 32s
-05° 55’ 40”
10h 27m 15s
23h 47m 48s

J2000

13h 19m 12s
-05° 47’ 39”

Additional Information

Virgo
22.52

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 96.0°
Max altitude: 32.6°
Azimuth: 264.0°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) from Earth is currently 513,571,902.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.4330161225 Astronomical Units. Light takes 28m 33.091s to travel from asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) and arrive to us.

513,571,902.0
3.4330161225
28m 33.091s

The following graph shows the distance of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 288P (2006 VW139) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2013 and December 30, 2100, the closest approach of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) to Earth happened on Sunday 11 September 2016 at a distance of 1.449080 Astronomical Units, or 216,779,305 kilometers:

Sunday 11 September 2016
216,779,305
1.449080

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) at epoch February, 24 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.20050867
Orbit inclination i 3.23837211°
Perihelion distance q 2.43700650 AU
364,570,984 km
Aphelion distance Q 3.65938604 AU
547,436,360 km
Semi-major axis a 3.04819627 AU
456,003,672 km
Orbital period period 5.3220 years
1,943.8503 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp March 1, 2022
2,459,640.1413 JD
Next perihelion transit June 27, 2027
2,461,583.9917 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 280.20443615837°
Longitude of the ascending node node 83.124333919006°
Mean anomaly M 66.738223595015°
Mean motion n 0.18519945°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of asteroid 288P (2006 VW139) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jul 10 2025 13h 17m 04s -05° 27’ 19” 22.46 Virgo
Jul 11 2025 13h 17m 30s -05° 31’ 03” 22.47 Virgo
Jul 12 2025 13h 17m 57s -05° 34’ 50” 22.48 Virgo
Jul 13 2025 13h 18m 26s -05° 38’ 43” 22.49 Virgo
Jul 14 2025 13h 18m 55s -05° 42’ 40” 22.50 Virgo
Jul 15 2025 13h 19m 24s -05° 46’ 41” 22.50 Virgo
Jul 16 2025 13h 19m 55s -05° 50’ 47” 22.51 Virgo
Jul 17 2025 13h 20m 26s -05° 54’ 57” 22.52 Virgo
Jul 18 2025 13h 20m 59s -05° 59’ 10” 22.53 Virgo
Jul 19 2025 13h 21m 32s -06° 03’ 29” 22.53 Virgo
Jul 20 2025 13h 22m 06s -06° 07’ 50” 22.54 Virgo
Jul 21 2025 13h 22m 40s -06° 12’ 17” 22.55 Virgo
Jul 22 2025 13h 23m 15s -06° 16’ 46” 22.55 Virgo
Jul 23 2025 13h 23m 52s -06° 21’ 20” 22.56 Virgo

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