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Asteroid Near-Earth

Peleus

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11311 Peleus (1993 XN2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.789 AU
True anomaly
211.05°
Distance from Earth
3.703 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 Peleus — 2.789 AU from the Sun Peleus
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Peleus is 3.703 AU from Earth today (30.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 30m 40s
Declination
-09° 37′ 25″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
3.7 AU
Elongation from the Sun
20.02° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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.

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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
2.117 AU
Eccentricity
0.5357
Inclination
25.49°
Orbital period
3.08 years
Perihelion
0.983 AU
Aphelion
3.25 AU
Longitude of ascending node
59.32°
Argument of periapsis
313.42°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 37.0 LD
0.0951 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.431

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,213
Data arc
32.43 years
First observed
10 December 1993
Last observed
17 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 May 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.74
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M.
Discovery date
10 December 1993
Discovery site
Palomar

Peleus, king of the Myrmidons in Thessaly, helped Heracles conquer Troy. He was married to the goddess Thetis---the only instance where a goddess married a mortal. He was also the father of Achilles. Too old to take part in the Trojan War, he gave his golden armor to his son.

Also known as 11311 · 1993 XN2

Apollo Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 6 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Peleus at 2033-11-23 07:37 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-11-23 07:37 UTC close approach of Peleus. Catalogue miss distance 75.8 LD · 2.92 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-11-20 to 2033-11-26, 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 75.8 LD · 2.92 × 10⁷ km 2033-11-23 07:37 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2033-11-23 07:37 UTC close approach of Peleus. Catalogue miss distance 75.8 LD · 2.92 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2033-11-20 to 2033-11-26, 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
2033-11-23 07:37:00 Earth 0.1949 AU 75.8 LD 20.1 km/s
2070-11-18 19:19:00 Earth 0.1209 AU 47.0 LD 18.1 km/s
2107-11-18 00:53:00 Earth 0.0986 AU 38.4 LD 17.4 km/s
2144-11-19 04:02:00 Earth 0.1255 AU 48.9 LD 18.2 km/s
2181-11-21 20:32:00 Earth 0.1607 AU 62.5 LD 19.2 km/s

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

Sources