Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.541 AU
- True anomaly
- 238.11°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.89 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 09h 38m 43s
- Declination
- +06° 40′ 06″
- Constellation
- Leo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.88 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 54.61° — 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.
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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
- 1.468 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.4421
- Inclination
- 16°
- Orbital period
- 649.6 days
- Perihelion
- 0.819 AU
- Aphelion
- 2.117 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 260.75°
- Argument of periapsis
- 334.4°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 56.8 LD
- 0.1459 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 4.461
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 4,986
- Data arc
- 37.98 years
- First observed
- 8 October 1988
- Last observed
- 3 October 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.33 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 4 October 2026
Physical properties
- Mean radius
- 0.94 km
- Rotation period
- 9.35 hours
Visual & observation
- Geometric albedo
- 0.22
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 15.75
- Spectral type (SMASS)
- S
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- NEAT
- Discovery date
- 30 November 1997
- Discovery site
- Haleakala
Also known as 1997 WU22
Close approaches 13 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2121-06-03 19:30 UTC close approach of 16834. Catalogue miss distance 74.4 LD · 2.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2121-05-31 to 2121-06-06, 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. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2059-03-06 10:43:00 | Venus | 0.1282 AU | 49.9 LD | 12.9 km/s |
| 2075-03-06 04:09:00 | Venus | 0.1101 AU | 42.8 LD | 13.5 km/s |
| 2091-03-06 00:47:00 | Venus | 0.1295 AU | 50.4 LD | 14.5 km/s |
| 2121-06-03 19:30:00 | Earth | 0.1912 AU | 74.4 LD | 13.4 km/s |
| 2137-06-09 17:53:00 | Earth | 0.18 AU | 70.1 LD | 13.4 km/s |
| 2153-06-12 18:52:00 | Earth | 0.174 AU | 67.7 LD | 13.4 km/s |
| 2169-06-12 10:28:00 | Earth | 0.1747 AU | 68.0 LD | 13.4 km/s |
| 2172-12-27 08:42:00 | Venus | 0.143 AU | 55.7 LD | 13 km/s |
| 2185-06-07 13:50:00 | Earth | 0.1843 AU | 71.7 LD | 13.4 km/s |
| 2188-12-25 08:46:00 | Venus | 0.1496 AU | 58.2 LD | 13 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- physical properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB