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Asteroid Near-Earth

162900

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162900 (2001 HG31)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.352 AU
True anomaly
147.53°
Distance from Earth
4.033 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 162900 — 3.352 AU from the Sun 162900
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 162900 is 4.033 AU from Earth today (33.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 48m 52s
Declination
-23° 01′ 39″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
4.04 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.19° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
2.576 AU
Eccentricity
0.5356
Inclination
6.16°
Orbital period
4.14 years
Perihelion
1.197 AU
Aphelion
3.956 AU
Longitude of ascending node
36.49°
Argument of periapsis
67.44°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · AMO
Amor
Earth MOID · 92.6 LD
0.238 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.201

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,346
Data arc
25.3 years
First observed
22 February 2001
Last observed
12 June 2026
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 September 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
2.53 days

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.98

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
NEAT
Discovery date
24 April 2001
Discovery site
Haleakala

Also known as 2001 HG31

Amor Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-12-04 01:19:00 Juptr 1.4966 AU 582.4 LD 3.3 km/s
2044-05-02 16:04:00 Juptr 1.3573 AU 528.2 LD 3.1 km/s
2058-07-03 09:07:00 Mars 0.0831 AU 32.3 LD 13.7 km/s
2114-11-15 23:14:00 Juptr 1.6548 AU 644.0 LD 3.6 km/s
2127-04-25 09:55:00 Juptr 1.2974 AU 504.9 LD 3 km/s
2139-09-25 22:17:00 Juptr 1.8764 AU 730.2 LD 4.4 km/s
2197-10-16 08:14:00 Juptr 1.8767 AU 730.3 LD 4 km/s

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

Sources