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Asteroid Near-Earth

6178

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6178 (1986 DA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.391 AU
True anomaly
188.49°
Distance from Earth
3.396 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 6178 — 4.391 AU from the Sun 6178
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 6178 is 3.396 AU from Earth today (28.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 23m 30s
Declination
+04° 36′ 23″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
3.4 AU
Elongation from the Sun
175.61° — near opposition — up most of the night

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
2.813 AU
Eccentricity
0.585
Inclination
4.32°
Orbital period
4.72 years
Perihelion
1.167 AU
Aphelion
4.459 AU
Longitude of ascending node
64.47°
Argument of periapsis
127.48°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 69.6 LD
0.1788 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.039

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,399
Data arc
49.23 years
First observed
17 July 1977
Last observed
8 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.15 km
Rotation period
3.5 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.15
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.71
Colour index (B–V)
0.68
Colour index (U–B)
0.27

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Kizawa, M.
Discovery date
16 February 1986
Discovery site
Shizuoka

Also known as 1986 DA

Amor Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 3 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 6178 at 2038-04-07 00:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-04-07 00:47 UTC close approach of 6178. Catalogue miss distance 77.1 LD · 2.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-04-04 to 2038-04-10, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 77.1 LD · 2.96 × 10⁷ km 2038-04-07 00:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-04-07 00:47 UTC close approach of 6178. Catalogue miss distance 77.1 LD · 2.96 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-04-04 to 2038-04-10, 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 north 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
2038-04-07 00:47:00 Earth 0.198 AU 77.1 LD 4.9 km/s
2076-04-06 09:16:00 Earth 0.1939 AU 75.5 LD 4.9 km/s
2166-12-08 01:39:00 Mars 0.0124 AU 4.8 LD 13.9 km/s

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

Sources