Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.027 AU
- True anomaly
- 235.42°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.88 AU
- As of
- 22 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
- 18h 18m 09s
- Declination
- -08° 40′ 32″
- Constellation
- Serpens
- Distance from Earth
- 0.88 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 66.04° — well clear of the Sun
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
- 0.937 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3463
- Inclination
- 12.78°
- Orbital period
- 331.5 days
- Perihelion
- 0.613 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.262 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 259.91°
- Argument of periapsis
- 203.84°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 44.0 LD
- 0.1131 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.327
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).
- Observations used
- 781
- Data arc
- 29.1 years
- First observed
- 29 June 1997
- Last observed
- 3 August 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.36 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 5 August 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 18.96
Discovery & classification
- Discovered by
- Tucker, R. A.
- Discovery date
- 29 June 1997
- Discovery site
- Goodricke-Pigott
Selqet was the ancient Egyptian goddess of magic and protector of the other gods from the destroyer, Apep. She was one of the four guardians of the deceased. Her aid was beseeched by those afflicted by scorpion or other stings. The scorpion was her sacred creature.
Also known as 136818 · 1997 MW1
Close approaches 48 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2036-05-29 00:35 UTC close approach of Selqet. Catalogue miss distance 66.7 LD · 2.57 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2036-05-26 to 2036-06-01, 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 a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2032-06-15 00:27:00 | Venus | 0.1172 AU | 45.6 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2034-03-25 09:28:00 | Venus | 0.1153 AU | 44.9 LD | 15.9 km/s |
| 2036-05-29 00:35:00 | Earth | 0.1715 AU | 66.7 LD | 9.2 km/s |
| 2051-07-02 23:01:00 | Venus | 0.0935 AU | 36.4 LD | 13.9 km/s |
| 2065-05-14 22:59:00 | Earth | 0.1489 AU | 57.9 LD | 13.2 km/s |
| 2070-07-21 14:15:00 | Venus | 0.085 AU | 33.1 LD | 14.2 km/s |
| 2075-05-15 19:54:00 | Earth | 0.1149 AU | 44.7 LD | 11.3 km/s |
| 2085-05-19 00:40:00 | Earth | 0.1226 AU | 47.7 LD | 9.8 km/s |
| 2087-11-04 05:01:00 | Venus | 0.1391 AU | 54.1 LD | 13.8 km/s |
| 2089-08-11 11:59:00 | Venus | 0.0918 AU | 35.7 LD | 14.8 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB