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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

52768

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52768 (1998 OR2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.944 AU
True anomaly
217°
Distance from Earth
2.273 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 52768 — 2.944 AU from the Sun 52768
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 52768 is 2.273 AU from Earth today (18.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 51m 48s
Declination
+26° 33′ 01″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
2.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
124.19° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
2.379 AU
Eccentricity
0.5758
Inclination
5.88°
Orbital period
3.67 years
Perihelion
1.009 AU
Aphelion
3.749 AU
Longitude of ascending node
26.93°
Argument of periapsis
174.57°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 2.8 LD
0.0072 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.287

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
6,132
Data arc
38.37 years
First observed
30 June 1987
Last observed
11 November 2025
Residual RMS
0.23 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 September 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.88 km
Rotation period
4.11 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.02

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
NEAT
Discovery date
24 July 1998
Discovery site
Haleakala

Also known as 1998 OR2

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 19 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 52768 at 2031-05-18 06:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-05-18 06:56 UTC close approach of 52768. Catalogue miss distance 49.5 LD · 1.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-05-15 to 2031-05-21, 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 49.5 LD · 1.9 × 10⁷ km 2031-05-18 06:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-05-18 06:56 UTC close approach of 52768. Catalogue miss distance 49.5 LD · 1.9 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-05-15 to 2031-05-21, 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
2031-05-18 06:56:00 Earth 0.1271 AU 49.5 LD 11.6 km/s
2058-12-04 04:25:00 Juptr 1.1995 AU 466.8 LD 3.9 km/s
2079-04-16 13:31:00 Earth 0.0118 AU 4.6 LD 8.2 km/s
2079-04-16 14:37:00 Moon 0.0092 AU 3.6 LD 7.3 km/s
2090-05-17 12:09:00 Earth 0.115 AU 44.7 LD 11.1 km/s
2106-10-16 06:48:00 Juptr 1.8043 AU 702.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2118-01-22 04:02:00 Juptr 1.2797 AU 498.0 LD 4.1 km/s
2127-04-16 14:49:00 Earth 0.0168 AU 6.5 LD 8 km/s
2138-05-20 21:53:00 Earth 0.1207 AU 47.0 LD 11.4 km/s
2165-11-21 06:08:00 Juptr 1.3411 AU 521.9 LD 4.3 km/s

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

Sources