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Asteroid Near-Earth

96536

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96536 (1998 SO10)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.733 AU
True anomaly
148.97°
Distance from Earth
1.749 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 96536 — 2.733 AU from the Sun 96536
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 96536 is 1.749 AU from Earth today (14.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 22m 06s
Declination
+11° 36′ 24″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
1.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
167.42° — 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
2.305 AU
Eccentricity
0.777
Inclination
41.06°
Orbital period
3.5 years
Perihelion
0.514 AU
Aphelion
4.095 AU
Longitude of ascending node
199.35°
Argument of periapsis
22.7°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 175.0 LD
0.4496 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.89

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,059
Data arc
49.87 years
First observed
24 November 1976
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.37

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LONEOS
Discovery date
19 September 1998
Discovery site
Anderson Mesa

Also known as 1998 SO10

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2059-01-27 16:38:00 Juptr 1.2514 AU 487.0 LD 9.6 km/s
2083-01-30 06:10:00 Juptr 1.5841 AU 616.5 LD 12.4 km/s
2106-05-31 18:17:00 Mercury 0.0757 AU 29.5 LD 43.1 km/s
2106-05-31 18:17:00 Merc 0.0757 AU 29.5 LD 43.1 km/s
2118-05-21 15:23:00 Juptr 1.2845 AU 499.9 LD 9.5 km/s
2120-05-18 07:57:00 Merc 0.087 AU 33.9 LD 45.4 km/s
2120-05-18 07:57:00 Mercury 0.087 AU 33.9 LD 45.4 km/s
2142-05-15 09:00:00 Juptr 1.5277 AU 594.5 LD 12.1 km/s
2177-09-10 18:58:00 Juptr 1.3364 AU 520.1 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources