Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

Toro

Add to an observing list or journal →

1685 Toro (1948 OA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.493 AU
True anomaly
233.72°
Distance from Earth
1.977 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Toro — 1.493 AU from the Sun Toro
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Toro is 1.977 AU from Earth today (16.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 17m 06s
Declination
-21° 10′ 21″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.98 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.04° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
1.368 AU
Eccentricity
0.436
Inclination
9.38°
Orbital period
584.3 days
Perihelion
0.771 AU
Aphelion
1.964 AU
Longitude of ascending node
274.21°
Argument of periapsis
127.27°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 19.8 LD
0.0509 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
4.715

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
5,554
Data arc
78.22 years
First observed
17 July 1948
Last observed
5 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.70 km
Rotation period
10.2 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.31
Absolute magnitude (H)
14.26
Colour index (B–V)
0.88
Spectral type (SMASS)
S
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.47

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Wirtanen, C. A.
Discovery date
17 July 1948
Discovery site
Mount Hamilton

Also known as 1685 · 1948 OA

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 32 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Toro at 2032-01-20 14:44 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-01-20 14:44 UTC close approach of Toro. Catalogue miss distance 50.1 LD · 1.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-01-17 to 2032-01-23, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 50.1 LD · 1.93 × 10⁷ km 2032-01-20 14:44 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-01-20 14:44 UTC close approach of Toro. Catalogue miss distance 50.1 LD · 1.93 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-01-17 to 2032-01-23, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-01-20 14:44:00 Earth 0.1288 AU 50.1 LD 16 km/s
2040-01-21 07:02:00 Earth 0.1384 AU 53.8 LD 16.3 km/s
2048-01-23 02:54:00 Earth 0.1654 AU 64.4 LD 17.2 km/s
2076-08-05 03:07:00 Earth 0.1898 AU 73.9 LD 16.5 km/s
2084-08-06 10:11:00 Earth 0.1731 AU 67.4 LD 15.8 km/s
2092-08-06 19:22:00 Earth 0.1692 AU 65.8 LD 15.6 km/s
2100-08-07 07:27:00 Earth 0.1762 AU 68.6 LD 16 km/s
2108-08-06 00:25:00 Earth 0.1977 AU 76.9 LD 16.8 km/s
2128-01-25 11:42:00 Earth 0.1765 AU 68.7 LD 17.4 km/s
2136-01-22 07:01:00 Earth 0.1258 AU 49.0 LD 15.9 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources