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Asteroid Near-Earth

Aten

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2062 Aten (1976 AA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.809 AU
True anomaly
31.83°
Distance from Earth
1.415 AU
As of
24 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Aten — 0.809 AU from the Sun Aten
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Aten is 1.415 AU from Earth today (11.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 13m 17s
Declination
-21° 10′ 08″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
1.41 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.87° — 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
0.967 AU
Eccentricity
0.1829
Inclination
18.94°
Orbital period
347.3 days
Perihelion
0.79 AU
Aphelion
1.144 AU
Longitude of ascending node
108.53°
Argument of periapsis
148.07°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 44.1 LD
0.1133 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.183

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,024
Data arc
63.9 years
First observed
17 December 1955
Last observed
10 November 2019
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Giorgini
24 May 2021

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.55 km
Rotation period
42.15 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.26
Absolute magnitude (H)
17.11
Colour index (B–V)
0.93
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sr
Spectral type (Tholen)
S
Colour index (U–B)
0.46

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Helin, E. F.
Discovery date
7 January 1976
Discovery site
Palomar

Also known as 2062 · 1976 AA

Aten Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 128 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Aten at 2030-09-22 12:50 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-09-22 12:50 UTC close approach of Aten. Catalogue miss distance 162.0 LD · 6.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-09-19 to 2030-09-25, 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 162.0 LD · 6.23 × 10⁷ km 2030-09-22 12:50 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-09-22 12:50 UTC close approach of Aten. Catalogue miss distance 162.0 LD · 6.23 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-09-19 to 2030-09-25, 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
2030-09-22 12:50:00 Earth 0.4163 AU 162.0 LD 16.4 km/s
2031-07-23 00:35:00 Venus 0.1009 AU 39.3 LD 11 km/s
2031-08-17 03:23:00 Earth 0.2392 AU 93.1 LD 12.7 km/s
2031-11-23 23:26:00 Earth 0.3343 AU 130.1 LD 9.5 km/s
2032-07-08 08:10:00 Earth 0.2124 AU 82.7 LD 12.4 km/s
2032-12-31 20:56:00 Earth 0.1906 AU 74.2 LD 10.3 km/s
2033-05-25 23:44:00 Earth 0.3087 AU 120.1 LD 11.6 km/s
2034-01-20 21:58:00 Earth 0.1332 AU 51.8 LD 11.4 km/s
2035-01-24 09:44:00 Earth 0.3567 AU 138.8 LD 17.3 km/s
2042-01-05 20:56:00 Venus 0.1096 AU 42.7 LD 11.3 km/s

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

Sources